40 Nights: Shinichi and Ran
by SoulSeeker
Summary: Together they could walk through the darkness…forty blissful nights dedicated to Shinichi and Ran, for the LJ community. —Flipping a Coin: He could have one or the other. It was as simple as that.—
1. Kodak Moment

**Title:** Kodak Moment  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #26—frozen moment at the first sight  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Shinichi just loves to make classy entrances, doesn't he?

_First 30 Kisses, and now 40 Nights…why yes, I am insane, thank you. :D 1/40_

* * *

Sometimes, Ran really hated research papers. The extensive amount of research alone was enough to make even Shinichi sick of the topic of Forensics, not to mention making sure each source was credible, inserting your own opinion about all of it, and backing everything up with sufficient evidence.

She had to admit: her personal decision to do a Forensics-centered research paper was mainly Shinichi's fault—or rather, his influence. It wasn't that she didn't _like_ the topic, of course; but if it hadn't been for him, she probably wouldn't even know enough about it to get started, or have any interest at all.

It didn't really matter then. She was two weeks into the project, and she wasn't about to change her topic.

Perhaps it wasn't so much the paper that she hated, but the fact that every time she would have a chance to do research for it, it would be at the library with Sonoko.

Or perhaps it was_ more_ because every time she would go to the library with Sonoko, she would _always_ bring Makoto along. Always.

Granted, she had nothing against the two; they made a lovely couple, and she was sure they were happy together. But being a third wheel was never ever pleasant, and she had no idea how Sonoko just could be so oblivious to how she felt about it. She had dropped more than enough hints that were anything but subtle, and she always told herself, 'I'm not doing that again. I'm not going with them again.'

Now maybe it was just Ran's loving, agreeable personality; but she often found it difficult to say 'no' to her friends.

So she found herself once again, walking over to the same library, with the same two people, feeling the exact same way.

Lonely.

She sighed, lagging behind the two on purpose to try to make it easier to forget about them for now. She got lost in her own thoughts, silently wondering how long her attention span would even let her stay in the library, and finally the three of them reached the entrance.

It was already late in the evening, so she figured she could probably manage to stay there until the library closed at around 9. With her notebook and pencil set on a table in the far corner of the library, she wandered away to the Forensics section to see what she could find. She looked at the rows and rows of books, glancing over their titles and she scratched her head in frustration—she didn't even know where to begin.

She grabbed a few books off the shelves that looked like they could possibly be of some use; after all, they always said that you should never judge a book by its cover, but no one had ever said anything about titles. She knew her notebook was back at the table, and she knew she needed it; she simply just didn't want to go back.

Instead she stayed in that very aisle, surrounded by books about Forensics, completely alone and in silence. She sat down and made herself comfortable, flipping through one of the books she had gotten; she seemed very uninterested, however, and was easily distracted by her own thoughts.

Glancing over paragraphs and paragraphs about medical evidence and solving mysteries, she silently laughed to herself, wondering jokingly about how she would go about citing Shinichi as a source for her paper. After all, he had offered to help her from the moment she had told him about it—over the phone of course. Not in person. He was much too busy for that.

She sighed, putting the book aside upon realizing that she really wasn't getting anything out of it, and she moved on to another book.

After spending about an hour by herself, unbothered by anyone, Ran finally decided she was bored enough to attempt to go back to actually record some of the information in her notebook she so readily abandoned. She rolled her eyes upon seeing Sonoko and Makoto, both peering over the same book, laughing and giggling. They had gotten off task again—surprise, surprise.

She ignored them and challenged herself to grab the notebook and walk away without them noticing; of course, they weren't blind.

"Hey Ran! Where have you been?" Sonoko asked in a laugh. "This book is hilarious!"

Makoto's gaze hadn't even shifted an inch from the book, and so Ran decided to ignore him as he had ignored her.

She raised an eyebrow at Sonoko, trying desperately to keep calm. "I've been researching, Sonoko," she replied. "You know, what we _came_ here to do. And this is a library, so why don't you keep your voice down before you get us kicked out?"

Okay—perhaps those weren't the best choice of words on Ran's part.

Sonoko looked away in an upset manner. "Well, gosh, aren't _we_ snarky today?" she retorted. "We've been working really hard this whole time, and we were _just_ taking a break for a while. Sorry if that's not allowed, _mother_."

Ran rolled her eyes, turning away. "Whatever," she snapped in response.

She really wasn't in the mood.

She looked for anyone she knew from school that was working on the same paper they were, possibly start a conversation or something to remind her that she wasn't alone. Finding no one however, she was back at the same place she was an hour ago, now with a notebook.

It was brand new and not very thick; she had gotten it specifically for this paper and her research, and she hadn't written anything in it yet. She had stuffed some notes in there that she took separately on loose-leaf, but nothing else.

She was then quite surprised to find that there _were _written words on the first page, and they definitely weren't her handwriting. She recognized it though, or so she thought, but she immediately dismissed it as a possibility—Shinichi wasn't even there, and she knew it was unhealthy to think about him too much. She didn't want to become obsessed.

There weren't a whole lot of words, though they were written big.

_Missed me, missed me, now you've gotta…_

She blinked in confusion; who would've written _that_?

"…kiss me?" she added with a shrug. That was logically what came afterwards, if she remembered correctly…

"Don't mind if I do."

Ran jumped, her heart skipping beat after beat as the voice sent shivers up and down her spine. She turned around, her eyes widened in surprise—and for the moment time stood dead still.

Still, as a pair of moist lips suddenly pressed against her own, sending her emotions into a fast-paced downwards spiral. A magical moment; a stillness that would take something truly powerful to break.

Something like the flash of a camera.

"_Sonoko!_" Ran shrieked.

"Don't worry—this'll be up all around school by next week!" Sonoko laughed. With her camera in hand, she ran away from the two, giggling madly as she disappeared with Makoto into the darkness that was now outside.

Ran proceeded to run after them when she was pulled back by her arm.

"Don't bother, Ran…it was part of the deal…"

She whirled around hastily. "But, Shinichi! She's— wait…what deal?"

Shinichi just chuckled and sighed. "She saw me writing that in your notebook, and she was going to tell you unless I agreed to let her take a picture…"

Ran blinked. "And you didn't want her to tell me?"

"Of course not."

"Why not?"

"It would've ruined everything," he replied. "Besides, would you have believed her?"

Ran nodded. "Good point…"

There was an awkward silence, and the two of them just stared at each other, Ran still processing everything that was happening.

"So…you planned this whole thing then…?" she asked.

"From the very beginning," he replied confidently.

"What about your case?"

Shinichi shrugged. "Took a break."

Ran just stared at him, feeling as if she was interrogating a criminal; silence took over again, and she finally just hugged him, letting a few tears run down her cheeks. It was finally beginning to sink in: Shinichi was back.

"Welcome back, tantei..."

He returned her embrace and chuckled, wiping away the trail of wetness her tears had left on her face.

Perhaps Ran could learn to love research papers after all.

* * *

_**A/N: **… T.T Damn I want a boyfriend like that… Ahaha, anyway, hope you enjoyed it. I think I'm off to a pretty good start … :D Only 39 to go… o.o_


	2. A Heart for a Heart

**Title:** A Heart for a Heart  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #6—stolen heart  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** He unintentionally took something of hers with him the day he left. Now that he knows, he intends to pay her back…

_Happy Valentine's Day people :D Hope you like this one…_

* * *

There was something to be said about Ran's devotion to Shinichi. Some called it stubborn; others called it loyalty. There were even some who went as far to say that it was true love.

Any way it was perceived however, Ran kept neutral. She didn't particularly care what others thought of her; she never had, and she wasn't going to start then. All she knew was that she would wait for him. Wait for him as long as she could, no matter how long that was. She would continually test the limits of her patience for as long as she needed to, because frankly, Shinichi was worth it.

Never once had he let her down, and this time was no different.

They walked to school together, just like they used to; he still talked about Sherlock Holmes non-stop, just like he used to—and Ran listened, just as she always used to.

Things were back to normal, and it was as if he had never even left. Together they faced the new school year, and were even teased for being a couple like they always had been.

Ran's favorite part of it all, however, had to be that Shinichi was back for Valentine's Day.

It was no where near her favorite holiday; it wasn't celebrated or even received well by everyone, and school wouldn't even be closed in honor of it. But she loved it.

She rang the doorbell at Shinichi's house once, and for the moment she feared she wouldn't get an answer. That sick feeling was quickly quelled, however, when the detective finally made his appearance at the door. Ran smiled at him.

"Happy Valentine's Day," she greeted.

He grinned. "Hey Ran! I'm almost ready, just one second."

Shinichi ran back into the house to grab his cell phone and keys, shutting the book of Sudoku puzzles he was amusing himself with in his spare time after putting a bookmark on the furthest page to mark his place. He quickly glanced around as he headed back to the door, making sure everything was in proper order, and he smiled in approval, locking the door on his way out of the house.

They walked in silence for the most part, heading to school as they observed all the couples that suddenly become so noticeable in the light of Valentine's Day.

"So…Shinichi…" Ran shifted uncomfortably in the silence, as she eagerly attempted to strike a conversation between them. "Are you going to the school dance tonight?"

He turned to her casually and blinked. "You mean that Valentine's Day thing?" he asked. "I don't know…maybe if you're going." He shrugged.

"If _I'm_ going?" Ran repeated.

"Sure. Do you want to go?" Shinichi asked bluntly.

Ran blinked a couple times, shaking her head bit in an attempt to process what he had said. She stammered a bit but in the end she finally pulled herself together to respond. "Why not? Could be fun…"

Shinichi nodded and smiled. "All right, then. Why don't you just come over? We can work on homework together and just kill some time before we go."

Ran certainly wasn't the only one who was eager to make up for the lost time between them; she smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, actually missing the afternoons they used to spend hanging out there at his house. "Sounds good; just remind me to call my dad after school so he knows," she replied.

"Hey, Ran, don't forget to call your dad after school so he knows you'll be at my house," Shinichi said jokingly with a slight chuckle.

She laughed, whacking him over the head. "Wise guy," she said accusingly.

"I try."

He grinned and suddenly noticed that their pace slowed down immensely as they drew closer and closer to Teitan High; neither of them seemed eager to go to school, but of course neither of them were willing to skip.

"What's your first class again?" Ran asked.

"History with Miho-sensei," Shinichi replied. They finally set foot within the boundaries of the school and stopped right in front of the main entrance.

"Right, right," Ran nodded upon remembering. "See you later then."

He nodded and waved, walking in the opposite direction of Ran as she headed to her Math class. "See ya," he said.

Shinichi wandered around aimlessly for about five minutes, but eventually found his way to his History classroom. He was about to make his entrance when a loud voice had obnoxiously grabbed his attention; it didn't take long for him to recognize it.

"Hey Kudo!"

He sighed, turning around. "Hey, Sonoko," he greeted her exasperatedly.

"You do the homework?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "And no, you can't copy it."

"Hey, hey now, why would you imply a thing like that?" she shot back defensively. "Come on now, I just wanted to talk with a good friend!"

Shinichi folded his arms. "What do you want, Sonoko? It's too early in the morning for this."

She shrugged, trying to look innocent. "Nothing, nothing! I was just wondering what you were up to today," she replied. "You know, Valentine's Day and all, and there's that dance going on tonight."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know," he told her.

"Well? Are you taking Ran?" she asked excitedly. "She's turned down a lot of guys waiting for you to ask you know. It seems you've just stolen her heart…" She sighed longingly, cupping her hands together as she practically melted at the thought of the romance. "I've told her she should just ask you herself, but you know, she's just too darn shy…"

Shinichi couldn't help but chuckle, being slightly amused by Sonoko's match-maker instincts. Not wanting to comment on that however, he just sighed and shook his head. "If you must know, Sonoko, we just agreed to go with each other this morning," he said. "She's coming over after school and we're going to go together."

Sonoko giggled. "Ooh, some private time, huh?" she teased. "You've already got plans, don't you, you romantic, you!" She laughed, winking at him approvingly.

He just rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yes, Sonoko. See, first we're going to make out, and then we'll have wild, wild passionate sex," he said sarcastically, managing to keep his face completely straight. "It's all part of my evil, diabolical plan to make her my slave. Now can we go to class before we're late, please?"

She laughed, casually slapping his back. "The detective has a sense of humor!" she exclaimed with a grin. "You're right though, let's go…"

They walked into the classroom and from that very moment, Shinichi was already counting down to the class's release. Seeing people exchange candy and cards and other such presents—and reflecting on what Sonoko had said to him earlier—he was reminded of his own present waiting at home for Ran; he didn't bring it with him, though that only made him look forward to leaving even more.

The day went by rather normally, despite the holiday—only occasional couples kissing in the hallway, and red and pink plastered everywhere, but generally, no one really acknowledged the holiday much. The most they did was talk about the dance, and he couldn't help but notice that most of the people who were going were single anyway.

After spending lunch and the last period of the day together, Shinichi and Ran had begun their walk back to the Kudo household. Ran had been immensely quiet—and that fact didn't go unnoticed like she hoped it would.

"Something wrong?" Shinichi asked. "You're being quiet… it's a little scary."

Ran laughed a tad at his comment and then scratched her head a little. "Well…I…just…"

"Hmm?" Shinichi turned to her.

"I…made this chocolate for you, that's all…" she spat out. She held out a decently-sized heart-shaped box in front of him, which until then had been hidden behind her back. "I…didn't quite know when to give it to you, you know? I've had it all day…"

Shinichi just laughed. "Gosh, Ran, you didn't have to be so nervous," he chuckled. "Thanks a lot though! I really appreciate it. I just hope you like my present just as much…"

She blinked. "You got a present for me, too?" she asked.

"Well, duh!" he replied. "Just wait till we get to my house…I think you're really going to like it." He grinned, suddenly feeling confident.

Ran was curious now, and she had spent the rest of the walk trying to pry what the present was out of him, but Shinichi wouldn't spill.

"Just wait! Look, we're here already—see?" He pointed ahead to his house as he used his other hand to pull out his keys.

"Fine," Ran said in surrender. They stood on the porch of his house as Shinichi unlocked his door, and they burst in; as usual, the house was completely empty.

"Wait here," Shinichi commanded immediately. He ran up to his room to get Ran's present, which was carefully hidden underneath his bed. With a smile that felt a mile wide, he ran back downstairs to see Ran again, concealing the present in his right hand.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded.

"All right…well…I was talking to Sonoko this morning," he began. "And according to her, I seem to have stolen your heart…" He slowly opened his hand with a smile. "So I figured maybe you'd something in return."

Ran's eyes widened in surprise and her heart nearly stopped; in Shinichi's hand was the most gorgeous necklace she had ever seen, with a large red heart dangling from it, bordered with small shining diamonds that glimmered a lovely white. "It's …beautiful…" she stammered.

"Look closer."

She took the necklace in her hands, concentrating closely on the heart, and she could then see that there were actually words encased in it. She read them and smiled.

_Shinichi Kudo's Heart._

"Now, flip it over," he said with a smirk.

She followed his command and chuckled, reading the words on the other side.

_Property of Ran Mouri._

Her heart rate must've gone up tenfold and her cheeks felt hot; she took a moment to stare at the words, making sure they registered in her head.

"Custom-made," Shinichi remarked proudly with a nod. "It'll go great with that red dress you love."

She laughed as she hugged him. "It will," she agreed. "And I'll be showing it off tonight…"

"Ah, you mean at the dance," Shinichi said.

"Of course," Ran replied. "At the dance. Tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Tonight."

Shinichi grinned and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "Can't wait."


	3. The Character Game

**Title:** The Character Game  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #15—telling you the truth  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** It's ironic how your true self can be revealed in a game where you are _supposed_ to be someone else…

_Based on a game I actually did play in Theatre class… It was awesome, and I thought this could be a creative way to apply it here._

* * *

Senior year was something all students looked forward to; the year of freedom—the last year of dealing with the prison most regarded as high school.

Shinichi and Ran were no exceptions.

With the sound of a bell, Teitan High's students flooded the hallways, each scrambling to get to their next class as most of the freshman still wandered aimlessly, wondering how they ever made it passed the first day.

The first week had gone by in a blink of an eye, and though Ran and Shinichi always managed to find each other in between classes, they only had one class together.

No, it wasn't History; it wasn't Literature. It wasn't even Forensics.

It was just…Theatre.

Admittedly, it was always fun for the two of them to get out of their own shoes for a good ninety minutes every other day; to have an excuse to be someone other than themselves. Ran had only wished that he wasn't so much _better_ at it than she was! Undeniably, he had contracted Yukiko's good acting skills; just another asset to be added to his pool of talents, along with solving mysteries, attracting fan girls, and at times, pissing her off beyond belief.

Of course, no one was without flaws; not even the Great Detective of the East.

If anyone even had one clue as to what was going on in his mind during the months of his mysterious 'disappearance,' one might be tempted to call him a pathological liar; but he told no one of his identity. Not even the one person who deserved to know most. He covered it up with all his might, and those who knew found out for themselves.

But he wanted to change all that.

Shinichi had never wanted to lie to Ran, or to anybody for that matter. He always preached about how there was always only one truth—so why couldn't he let everyone know it?

It was all behind him now—Gin, Vodka, the Black Organization—and the only thing left was to give Ran the explanation he owed. If only he knew how to tell a secret as big as that…

"Shiniiiichi, come _on_, we're going to be late!" Ran pleaded.

She saw him walking down the hallway in a daze, headed for the cafeteria entrance where they always met to walk to Theatre together.

"Sorry, sorry!" he spat, as he sped up to catch up with her.

Ran sighed and the two of them swiftly navigated their way through the crowds, which were quickly dying out, meaning that the late bell would soon ring. They ran in right on time and took their seats—which proved to be pointless, as they were immediately directed to the stage from there.

Rumors fluttered around that they were to play a game of sorts…

"What's wrong with you? You look like someone just killed your cat!" Ran remarked. The two of them walked slowly to the auditorium where the stage was and found a circle of chairs.

Shinichi sighed. He couldn't tell her now…it was a bad time. Very baadd time…of course, it wouldn't stop him from trying anyway. "There's…something I need to tell you," he blurted out. The class was seated in the circle with one chair left for the teacher, who now was approaching the circle, getting ready to begin class.

"You better make it quick," Ran whispered. The class quieted down, and the teacher, Mizuno-sensei, began to talk. Too late.

"All right class! I figured we'd have a little fun today with this game; some of you have played it last year, and if you have, just bear with me while I tell those who haven't what's going to happen."

Shinichi continuously looked back and forth between Ran and the teacher for an opportunity to speak, going unnoticed by the teacher.

"We're going to play something I like to call 'The Character Game'," he announced. He quickly made sure he had everyone's attention before continuing.

"As you can see, we're in a circle right now. We're all going to move around the circle and take turns sitting in what I'll call the 'hot seat'; whoever is sitting in it will be creating a character of their own that they will be playing in the next few classes to come. Your classmates and I will help you by taking turns asking you questions about your character—one from each person—to which you will respond _as_ your character. It can be anyone, from a five-year-old boy to an eighty-year-old woman, so have fun with it! The questions will help build the character, and the more established the character, the easier he or she will be to act later."

The class murmured, for the most part showing understanding.

"Now!" Mizuno-sensei looked around the circle. "You all probably want to know which one of you is in the hot seat…"

He smirked, his gaze reaching everyone possible.

"Shinichi!"

The detective's ears perked up immediately as he turned around to face him. "Huh?"

"You'll be the first person to create a character. Your seat is now the 'hot seat'," he informed him. "Once everyone asks you a question for your character to answer, we'll all move over one and then Ran will create one, and Shizuka, Touya, and so on."

They were going around the circle to the right…

"Oh! And once you create your character, you will then be asking questions to the others _in-character_. Now then...the first thing we'll need to know about your character is the name. So Yumi, start with the question 'What's your name?' and we'll go around the circle from there."

His gaze turned to the person to the right of Shinichi, and she blinked at him shyly. "Uh…what's your name?" she asked.

"Um…" Shinichi scratched his head, looking around to all the eyes that were on him, sighing. His eyes lingered on Ran…how was he supposed to 'create' a stupid character with so much going on in his head? He stalled for a few moments; and suddenly, he got an idea.

He smirked, looking almost evil, and in an instant, his face changed to being completely innocent—cute even. "My name…is Conan Edogawa," he announced, straining his voice to go up a few octaves. Laughter ensued at the voice he had taken on; Ran especially laughed, of course, understanding the reference to Conan. Now all she needed to do was make the connections between him and the four-eyed character he had created…

The boy next to Yumi was the next to ask a question. He thought a moment and had some trouble coming up with one, but he asked a simple one in the end. "So…Conan…how old are you?"

"Eight," Shinichi replied with a smile. He had to stifle a laugh himself—he almost missed acting as Conan.

The boy nodded in satisfaction and the next person asked a question. "Umm… do you…like to read?"

"Oh yes! In fact"— Shinichi reached into his pocket to pull out his glasses he had used as Conan; he knew there would be a reason to have them that day! — "I read so much I need glasses!"

Laughter filled the room again as he put the glasses on his face; all but Ran, who quirked an eyebrow, suddenly becoming suspicious…Why did Shinichi have Conan's glasses? It was unmistakable; only he had those old-fashioned glasses…but Conan had gone back to America with his parents, and he was wearing them when he left…

"What's your favorite type of book to read?"

He chuckled. "Mystery, of course! Sherlock Holmes is my favorite—it's the _best_ to read at night…like a bedtime story!"

Ran chuckled as she slapped her forehead at his silliness, and finally, she raised her hand. "Mizuno-sensei? Uh, I know everyone is enjoying this character Shinichi is creating, but I'm afraid he isn't the one who created it," she announced. "He is basing him off of someone who already exists…I think he should start over."

Shinichi just smirked a little bit, shaking his head. "I did create him…" he told her somewhat softly, resuming his normal voice.

"You did not, Shinichi Kudo! You _know_ you didn't!" she exclaimed accusingly.

"I did," he repeated with a shrug. "You just don't realize it yet, that's all…"

Ran narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"All right, all right!" Mizuno-sensei finally took charge. "Enough…Ran, thank you for telling all of us about that little dilemma, but since we've already started, I'm going to let him continue with this Conan character," he told her. "But yes, do keep in mind that you should create someone original. Not just act someone who is already existing." He turned to the next boy in line and nodded at him. "Now, let's keep this going."

Ran sighed, feeling slightly defeated, though she couldn't make sense of what Shinichi had told her. Yes, she had her suspicions before about him and Conan being one and the same; but surely it was impossible. After all, she had seen the two of them at the same time before! She was left to her own thoughts, barely paying attention to the other questions that were being asked of him.

She brushed off all of Shinichi's efforts to make the truth obvious, and she remained oblivious to what he was trying to do. Her thoughts continued to overwhelm her, when finally a particular question had caught her attention.

"Conan, have you ever lied to someone you care about?"

Shinichi blinked, his emotions being a mix of fear, anxiety, and utter happiness. This was hopefully the one question that would bring to light his entire point of playing this game to begin with.

He looked around to all the faces, all of whom were now staring intently at him waiting for an answer, and he casually took off his glasses. His gaze migrated towards Ran, and he breathed a slow breath before answering clearly and confidently.

"Yes…"

No excuses to follow, no annoying voice; just the simple truth. Ran's eyes had widened as her jaw dropped slowly in disbelief; she hadn't even realized that it was then her turn to ask a question—in fact, she didn't much care.

After all those times she had suspected him, after all of the hints he had dropped in the game, she finally admitted it. She convinced herself that somewhere inside, she truly did know about everything, and that she was simply in denial; that this was not something new.

She folded her arms, taking a deep breath to bring down her heart rate some before speaking.

"So when you lied to this…_person_…" She paused briefly, letting the emphasis on the word sink in. "Did you plan on ever telling her the truth? Or were you going to leave her in the dark forever?"

"I did want to tell her," Shinichi replied, remembering his child voice. "In fact, I tried _many_ times. It just never seemed like the right time…"

"Do you really believe that serves as a sufficient excuse?" Ran's tone became slightly more aggressive, and she appeared to forget that her one question was over and that since she was the last person, it was then time for everyone to rotate one to the right.

"No—"

"Why did you have to lie in the first place? Was there some sort of reason?"

"It was solely to protect—"

"Do you think that this person should still care for you after what you did? Do you think it's in that person's capability?" Ran stood up, her whole body shaking, and turned to Shinichi to give him a glare.

"Ran, your turn is over. Only one question per—"

Ran ignored Mizuno-sensei for once, and so did Shinichi.

"Well, of course—"

"How are you going to tell said person? A phone call in the middle of the night? Or maybe over some crumpets and tea? How do you plan on ever regaining this person's trust?"

Her voice quivered at the end; she finally decided that then would be a good time to stand up, and she ran out of the class headed towards the bathroom.

Her breathing was short, and not soon afterwards, Shinichi ran after her upon noticing that tears had lightly streamed down her face.

"Ran! Ran, wait!"

She wiped away her tears, turning back to him. "I think I've waited long enough, Shinichi. Don't bother following me…you've given me a lot to think about, a lot to consider, and now it's _your_ turn to wait for _me_—wait for _my_ answers and explanations, and _my_ decisions. See how much you like it."

Without looking back, she stormed into the girl's bathroom beyond the detective's reach. Shinichi sighed heavily, creating no fuss whatsoever and situated himself against the wall right next to the bathroom. He had pictured many possible reactions Ran would have upon telling her the truth, but he had to admit, he didn't quite see himself waiting outside of the girl's bathroom for her to return to him.

Like Ran however, Shinichi was more than willing to wait.

Even after his sensei had yelled at him in an attempt to make him return to class.


	4. Crazy Diamonds

**Title:** Crazy Diamonds  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #13—paint the night with stars  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** The stars were there. She just couldn't find them on her own...

_:D I love this couple. I really do, lol. Enjoy! (Thanks for the reviews!)_

* * *

"Shiniiichi-kun, are you ready _yet_?"

A young Ran whined as little Shinichi struggled to button down the rest of his shirt in a hurry. He tried to speed up even more upon hearing her voice, which ironically probably slowed him down even more. "I said just a _minute_, Ran-chan!" he yelled back through his room door. "Almost!"

Ran sighed, folding her arms impatiently as she began to tap her foot. Her mother always tapped her foot when she was feeling frustrated or angry at her father; it was only natural that a child no older than six would imitate it.

Footsteps emanating from the stairs made Ran perk up, and the little girl turned around hastily to see her mother, Eri Kisaki; she approached her with a smile and open arms.

"Mama!" Ran squealed. She leaped into her arms with a grin and Eri giggled, whirling her around once before putting her back on the ground.

"Are we almost ready to go?" she asked playfully.

Ran made a face and pointed to Shinichi's room accusingly. "Shinichi-kun is taking forever!"

"Am not!"

Little Shinichi emerged from his room at last wearing very warm clothing that his mother had bought for him, and with a decently sized backpack in tow. After all, if they were going camping, this little detective had to be prepared for anything!

"_Finally!_" Ran breathed; she ran over to him jubilantly and smiled, turning to her mother. "We're ready to go now!"

Eri laughed at her enthusiasm as Yukiko made her appearance, having come from the kitchen, and smiled at the two. "Guess you'll be off now?" She turned to Eri as she pat Shinichi lightly on the head.

"I guess we'd better be," she giggled. "Before a certain someone explodes."

She followed suit and pet Ran on the head, as Yukiko bent down to hug Shinichi. He resisted with all of his might, but of course, to no avail. "Bye honey! Remember, stay with Ran and her mother, and don't wander off on your own okay?"

"I _know_ mom, you _told_ me yesterday," Shinichi groaned. "Come on, we've got to go!"

Yukiko sighed, finally releasing her son from her arms and watched as they left with a promise from Eri that he was in good hands. And he was—Eri made a great mother, and she knew that this overnight trip was just as much for her as it was for the children. If Yusaku had been even half as flirty and as _dense_ as Kogoro was, she would've gone mad as well. She was glad she got a chance to get away, even if it was only for one night.

"Ran…? Ran-chan, what _are_ you doing?"

Shinichi folded his arms demandingly as the girl stared idly out the car window, completely ignoring him. She jumped a little and turned to him hastily. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she stammered. "I was just…looking at the sky…"

He looked away bitterly. "Hmpth. You're not being a very good criminal," he pouted. "I'm supposed to be intiragating you! Just like Holmes!"

Ran's attention was finally recaptured, as she was reminded of the little game Shinichi had devised to pass the time. "What's 'intiragating'?" she asked.

"It's when the detectives ask the criminals questions," he replied. He tried to sound as dignified as possible, and he felt very intelligent. "You know, to try to get you to confess to the crime! That's what I've been doing the _whole_ time."

A smug look appeared on his face, and it was followed by sudden laughter, coming from the driver's seat. The volume on the radio conspicuously got lower as Eri smirked at him through the rear-view mirror. "You mean _interrogating_, Shin-kun," she corrected him with a grin.

"Interrogating?" he repeated, utterly stunned.

She nodded and couldn't help but feel a tug of guilt when she saw him turn a slight shade of red. Even Ran had giggled, and being the good mother that she was, Eri just had to change the subject for him.

"Well…anyway, we're almost there!"

Their attention turned to the window once more, and they grinned as they saw the streetlights illuminating the street and their path.

"Ran-chan, why do you look so sad?" Shinichi asked. "Aren't you happy?"

She turned to him and smiled. "I am! It's just…" Her smile quickly began to sink into a frown as she turned back to the window. Shinichi curiously bent down towards her, looking out her window as well to see what her eyes had been so fixated on.

"What _is_ it?" He poked her lightly, waiting for her to explain more.

Ran sighed. "I…I just can't see the stars, that's all," she replied. "The stars are so pretty back home, I was hoping to see them even better when we went camping…"

Shinichi scratched his head. He didn't really see the connection between the stars and going camping, but he figured if it was making her sad, it must've been a big deal.

"Well…_I_ see one!" he replied.

She gasped, perking up immediately, her body almost catapulting out of her seat belt—though of course, with her little body, it wouldn't have been that difficult. "You do? Where!" she demanded.

"There!"

Shinichi's stubby little finger pointed to a very small, isolated star that shone a very beautiful blue. Eri took a few seconds to glance too, as Ran seemed in awe by the shining orb. "I think that's Sirius," she remarked with a smile.

"It's so pretty!" Ran squeaked, grinning.

"I bet I can find more stars than you." Shinichi flashed his know-it-all smirk that everyone loved about him, and Ran pouted immediately at the challenge, folding her arms in staunch protest.

"Uh-uh! You_ always_ win these games! I don't want to play with you." She turned away from him—she didn't want to play the game, but she decided she liked the idea of looking for stars.

Shinichi just laughed at her mockingly. "Smart choice," he told her. "Because _I_ would've won anyway."

He relaxed his arms, resting his head on them as he looked out of the window with a satisfied smile.

"Eh?"

Ran unbuckled her seatbelt and crawled over to his side, peering out of his window to a surprising but _beautiful_ sight. Stars littered the night sky, like crazy shining diamonds that called out for attention, each trying to glow brighter than the others. For a reason unknown, they only appeared on Shinichi's side…

"Wow!"

The two children stared in awe, and they barely noticed when they finally arrived at their campsite. "We're here!" Shinichi grinned, getting out of the car. "Ran-chan, come on!"

Ran sat there still, unmoving, and she almost seemed hypnotized as her feet continued to dangle off the car seat.

"Ran…?"

She suddenly began to hear fingers snapping.

"_Ran-neechan_, your marshmallow is burning!"

Ran's heart skipped a beat in surprise as she blinked, being thrown quickly back into reality. Her attention was immediately grabbed by the flaming ball of white at the end of the stick she was holding, and she nearly panicked, quickly putting it out, and she turned to her right to see a familiar face.

"Oh…Conan…thank you…" she breathed. She held a hand over her chest, panting, as Sonoko appeared out of a tent that showed a pink tint against the darkness, thanks to the flames of their campfire.

"What's going on?" she asked. "What's with all the screaming? Did something happen?"

Conan just laughed, pushing his glasses up a little, sitting down next to Ran. "Oh, nothing," he replied. "Ran-neechan was just spacing out again and forgot she had a marshmallow over the fire."

Ran giggled. "Yeah…those stars, I swear they do something crazy to you," she told them with a grin.

"Riiight…_they're_ the crazy ones," Conan teased her with a smile. Ran just stuck her tongue out at him, ruffling his hair, though she was smiling too.

Sometimes she could swear she was talking to Shinichi.

* * *

_**A/N:** If anyone caught the small Pink Floyd allusion I made in there, then kudos to you :D_


	5. Sunrise, Sunset

**Title:** Sunrise, Sunset  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #7—first sunlight after the darkness  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** It's six in the morning, and…Shinichi, what are you still doing here?

_Yaayy, number 5! Go me :P_

* * *

Ran didn't like to be late. In fact, she could safely say she rather hated it.

She huffed and puffed, panting as she ran around her room to gather her school things. Twenty minutes—that's all she needed. If only she was doing this just twenty minutes earlier, perhaps she could've made it on time to class…

The girl hurriedly ran downstairs with her backpack after getting dressed—she had no doubts that she had forgotten a thing or two or five, considering the rush she was in, though at that point she really didn't care. She stuffed a cereal bar in her mouth and obsessively glanced at the time as each second passed; her breathing slowed, realizing that there was still a slim chance she could make it.

She sighed as she quickly ran into her father's room and found him still sleeping; she grabbed a house key for emergencies and waved. "Leaving now, dad, talk to you later!" she exclaimed; she barely took a second glance before bolting out of his door and out of the house.

Shinichi surely had left for school without her by now—but maybe, just maybe if she ran fast enough, she'd catch up to him somehow; all she needed now was to transform into a cheetah.

_Yank!_

Her arm felt like it was about to be pulled out of its socket as she felt herself propelled back, and before she knew it she was falling; she braced herself for impact with a whimper, deciding there was just no _way _any good could come out of a day beginning like this…

Ran felt herself being caught, saving herself from a crash landing into pure pavement, not to mention possible embarrassment.

"Ahhh…!"

She felt a slight tingling in her arm that had been pulled, and she rubbed it, making a very pained expression; almost as quickly as it came however, the pain subsided—not surprisingly, since she was adept to such pain from karate. Panting, she shook her arm loose to make sure it was still functional.

"Sorry, did that hurt? Didn't mean to pull so hard…"

A coarse voice had called out to her, and she heard distinct coughing afterwards—it didn't sound pleasant, either. A hand had then appeared in front of her face, and she used it to lift herself up from the ground as she looked on to see who it was.

"My _god_, Shinichi—what in hell's name did you do to your voice?" she demanded rather harshly upon setting eyes on him.

A look of innocence came over him and he just shrugged. "I don't know," he explained. "I just woke up this morning with my throat hurting like heck, and my voice was like_ this_."

_Cough, cough._

Ran just shook her head and chuckled; she put a hand on his shoulder and nudged him forward. "Well, come on. We'd better get going," she told him.

The two walked on, and by then, the notion of even trying to be on time slipped their minds.

"You don't usually get sick, you know…" Ran turned to Shinichi and tilted her head, looking slightly worried. "You're still coming over and hanging out with us later, right?"

He nodded; Ran had decided to take advantage of the fact that her father was not going to be home that day, and she invited her closest friends over—just to relax and have some fun. He was looking forward to going over to Ran's without having an old man there who was constantly giving him the 'get-away-from-my-daughter' death glares.

"Cool," she said, sounding pleased. "I'll see you later then. Try not to talk too much today, all right?" The two prepared to part, and Shinichi gave her a thumbs-up, laughing a little.

"Yes mommy," he mocked.

Ran just rolled her eyes with a smirk, and with that, the two had gone to their separate classes. It wasn't until lunch that they saw each other again, and she sat at their usual spot, waiting for him to show up. There was no sign of him.

He finally showed up later with Sonoko; they were talking, which they didn't do often without Ran around, which struck her as odd. He had walked over to sit down next to her as the other walked away in a different direction. She figured she was most likely getting lunch from the school, and she looked over to Shinichi.

"Throat doing any better?" she asked.

He thought a moment, tilting his head left and right, signaling that it might've been better, but then he abruptly just shook his head. "No," he mouthed.

Ran just frowned, holding a Hershey's kiss out to him. "Chocolate cures all," she offered.

He shrugged, accepting the chocolate with a grin, and he looked at the lunch he had with him, feeling anything but hungry. Of course, Ran noticed.

"So…" She tried her best to strike up a conversation, and looked around for signs of Sonoko coming to join them. "What were you talking to Sonoko about? You know, when you first came in…"

She didn't know if it was jealousy or just innocent curiosity, but she felt like she had to know. Shinichi just shrugged. "Nothing," he uttered, almost as a whisper.

The girl shrugged too, and she decided not to be any nosier than she was, though she wished she knew. "Maybe I'll pry it out of Sonoko later," she chuckled. He just rolled his eyes. Girls—they always had to be gossiping about _some_thing.

She did feel better when Sonoko showed up…everyone knew she had that crazy hyperactive aura about her that made it almost impossible to be sad or upset as long as she was around.

"Ugh man—chicken sandwich a_gain_," she groaned as she sat down. "I really _must_ start bringing my own lunch one day."

The two just giggled at her, and she smiled. "So Ran! Everything's all good for tonight?" she asked excitedly.

She nodded. "Yup, yup—dad's leaving at five, and we'll have the place _all_ to ourselves for the rest of the night," she grinned. Sonoko giggled and clapped her hands together.

"Great!" she squealed; she elbowed Shinichi lightly. "You're coming too, aren't you, Kudo?"

He nodded. Ran then smiled, looking up to Sonoko. "Yep; I think he's going home to get some things first," she informed her. "Something about some Holmes movies and _Clue_." She looked at him teasingly and Shinichi just playfully stuck his tongue out at her.

"I love _Clue_!" Sonoko laughed. "I'll see if I have some cool games or movies to bring over too, and then I'll show up, 'kay?"

Ran gave her a thumbs-up with a smile; she was looking forward to it even more than she did before.

So much that she could barely concentrate during her last class. She survived somehow though, and she quickly made her way home; she had cleaned the house a little to pass the time, and also helped her dad prepare for his leave on his big case with Inspector Megure.

Kogoro looked at his watch in a serious manner. Just then, a police car had pulled up in front of the house. "Well, there he is," he told her. "I'm off now. You're going to have some friends over, right?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Don't worry, we'll be good." She giggled and she gave her father a hug before he walked out the door. "Good luck on the case!"

He just smirked. "A great detective like me doesn't rely on such things as luck." His tone was as arrogant as it always was, and Ran just rolled her eyes as she saw him get into the car.

He was gone—now all that was left was to patiently wait.

Shinichi was the first to show up. He showed her all of the games and movies he brought with him, and he then he sat her couch and sighed. Ran looked at him with a questioning look. "What's wrong?" she asked. All he could do was point to his throat—_cough, cough_.

She frowned. "So, your voice is officially gone now, huh…"

He continued to point to his throat with a discontent look on his face, unceasingly mouthing "I can't talk. I. Can't. Talk."

"Well…this is going to be awkward," she sighed. He nodded, and they both stared out the window, waiting for her other friends to show up. The silence was interrupted then by a phone call, and Ran eagerly got up, dashing to the phone to pick it up.

It started off friendly enough, with Ran's smile plastered on her face as usual, but it suddenly flipped to a frown.

She returned to her seat, and Shinichi looked at her for explanation.

"Sonoko can't make it," she pouted.

He frowned, giving her an apologetic look; and she was perfectly fine with it…until her other friends had copped out as well. It was just too much of a coincidence.

"I feel like I'm being set up," she hissed. "What's going on?"

Shinichi shrugged; Ran breathed a sigh, and they continued to look out the window. The sun was setting now, making shades of red and yellow all of the sky.

"Hm…that's kind of pretty, actually," Ran noted. Even Shinichi had to agree.

They stared, though when not much else was to be seen after the sun was out of sight. The clouds had deviously hid all the stars from them, as well as the moon. Ran finally looked over to Shinichi, and she stood up.

"Well…do you want to watch one of your movies or something? Play a game maybe?" she offered. She walked over to her TV, and slid the drawers under them open; she pulled out a large box, which Shinichi immediately recognized as a board game, and she turned to him. "I've got _Scrabble_."

He gave her a thumbs up, not really caring.

She began to set up the game, and they played for a while. Eventually the silence had gotten to Ran, and she got up to turn on the radio, but that was about the only pause they had in the game.

It didn't keep their attention for long, and soon they abandoned the game for something more interesting. Using the _Scrabble_ game letters to claim that he was 'deathly allergic to chick-flicks,' and after a long fight (which was very silent on Shinichi's part), he had convinced her to play a Holmes movie that he had brought with him.

And another…and somewhere during the third one, Ran became _dog_-tired. Time was a factor that escaped their minds, and even Shinichi's eyes began to get heavier and heavier.

Finally, they stayed wouldn't open; and neither would Ran's. The two had fallen asleep.

They didn't wake up until the sun began to rise—Shinichi was first. He began to stir, feeling weight on his chest, and he looked down to see Ran's head resting upon it.

He looked around; no, he was certainly not dreaming. It was definitely Ran's house.

_Shit_ was the first word that came to his head, and he couldn't move until Ran woke—though one perk was that his throat did magically begin to feel better. He played a while with the thought that maybe Ran had shoved random liquid medicine down his throat to cure it; she knew he wouldn't have taken it any other way.

Ran finally began to wake up, lifting her face to meet Shinichi's, and she jumped up in shock. "Shinichi! You're still here? But—what time is it?" She looked at her watch frantically. "It's almost six! You mean…you were here the whole time?"

He scratched his head, looking apologetic. "Sorry…I fell asleep."

His voice wasn't a hundred percent back, but he could at least talk again. Ran smiled at that—she hadn't even realized she had used him as a pillow.

"You're lucky my dad won't be home until later," she said, slightly calmer. Her attention turned to the window, and she smiled. "Hey, c'mon…let's go watch the sun rise! I never get to…"

She got up and began to walk towards the door, hearing no word from Shinichi. She turned back, finding Shinichi hovering over the _Scrabble_ board, which was never put away. "Shinichi? What are you doing?" she asked.

He jumped up in surprise. "Nothing, nothing! …Let's go…" he blurted quickly.

He joined her at the door and they walked out together, though he looked unhappy. He had set up this whole night, hoping that his alone time with her would prompt his conscious to bug him enough to finally make his move; say what he wanted to say. Tell her his feelings.

Things worked against him however, with his throat killing him and his voice unable to be heard. He was still thankful that Sonoko had done her part; he was always happy to be with Ran. The night just could've gone better.

"I should go home…" he finally said. The sun had risen, and now it blared hatefully in their eyes. "Maybe get some medicine."

Ran agreed. "Good idea," she remarked. "I'll call you later."

He gave her a hug and nodded, and then he began his walk home, lost in thought. One day, fate would not hate him and he would be able to say what he wanted to say to her.

Three fateful words 'I love you'—the same ones she was probably looking at right at that very moment…

The very ones he had carefully left for her on the _Scrabble_ board that morning.

After all…when an avid detective chooses a game like _Scrabble_ over _Clue_, you just _know_ there's a good reason.


	6. Green Eyed Monster

**Title:** Green-Eyed Monster  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #20—never leave me again  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Everyone feels jealous sometimes. Even the Great Detective of the East…

_Everyone probably recognized the Shakespeare reference in the title... :D_

* * *

It was a day like any other in the Mouri household, except for one thing. One thing that made Ran exceedingly happy; at least for the moment.

No one was there.

Except for her, of course. Everyone _else_ was gone, and she finally felt like she had some privacy. She didn't normally like to be alone, but she also didn't appreciate her father breathing down her neck all the time. Sometimes, she could really see why her mother was always so frustrated with him...but no more of that. She was going to enjoy the privacy while it lasted.

…And the silence…

…And the crickets chirping…

…And the knives being sharpened, along with the screams of agonizing pain…

Okay, okay. Definitely her imagination. But regardless, the tranquility took some getting used to—after all, having a private investigator as a father, there was rarely any of it around. Not that she was complaining about it. In fact, it didn't take her long to adjust at all.

Humming to the tune of the song playing on the radio, she playfully washed the dishes—by hand, even—and was actually enjoying it. It was passing the time quite efficiently, and frankly, it was a much more enjoyable task when she wasn't being screamed at to do it. She giggled at all the memories all the soap bubbles had churned up in her; she was always so silly around Shinichi…

"_Come on, just lemme see it! I'll give it back, I promise!"_

"_Uh-uh! You'll kill him!" _

_Ran hugged her brand new teddy bear tightly, running away from the ever-devious Shinichi, who had insisted on laying his hands upon it from the moment he saw it. They ran all around the Mouri house, and eventually found themselves in the kitchen._

"_Mama! Shinichi's trying to steal my teddy!"_

_Yes; Eri was still there, and she was raising Ran with the utmost care. She was giggling now, reminiscing about her own childhood. "Now, now, Ran…" she told her as the little one clung to her leg. "Not while I'm washing the dishes, okay? You don't want me to drop any of them, do you?"_

_She shook her head, peering over that left turn from the living room to the kitchen, and then gasped. "There he is!"_

"_Come on, Ran, don't you trust me?" Shinichi pleaded, bursting into the room carelessly._

_It was too late. The little detective had lost his balance, tripped, and had slammed right into Eri's legs—all within the span of ten seconds. The moment he heard the glass that Eri was washing shatter, he knew he was in trouble. And it made it worse when he saw red water run from Ran's bare feet, the broken glass dispersed all over the floor.._

_It was the first time he ever made her cry…_

Ran smiled. She had gotten so angry at him for that incident, and it was unbelievable how trivial it all seemed ten years later. Actually, she was surprised she had remembered it at all. She always remembered the simplest, random things…

Most of them had to do with Shinichi.

She had to wonder what the deal was with him—disappearing on her like that. It had been so long, and they hadn't even talked over the phone in a long time.

After putting the last dish she washed on the drying rack, she made her way over to the couch, where her eyes moved conspicuously (against her will—really!) to the phone. She had an internal debate of whether or not to call him—one side maintaining that if he wanted to talk to her, _he_ would call, and the other encouraging her to be brave and call _him_ for a change.

She didn't have time to decide though, and in the end, she didn't have to.

Like magic, the phone rang right as her hand touched the receiver after she had finally decided she was going to call. Speak of the devil…

"Raaann! Long time no talk, huh?"

She wanted to yell at him for not keeping in touch. Really, she did. But sometimes, it was so hard to be angry at him. Something in his voice…in his eyes, in his words…in his general essence. It just wouldn't allow anger to penetrate.

"Yeah, and even _longer_ time no see," Ran added with a tone of bitterness. That was the best she could do. "What the heck have you been doing? Where have you been?"

Shinichi just laughed. It had been a while since he had called with his bowtie. He was around her as Conan for so long, sometimes it slipped his mind that he wasn't actually seeing her. "Oh…around," he replied ambiguously.

"Around?" Ran repeated. "_Around?_ Around _where_, Shinichi? Because you _certainly_ haven't been around here!"

"I know…I know…"

The tantei tried to chose his words carefully. Even though she wasn't in his presence, the last thing he wanted was her to be even more angry with him that she already was for his 'disappearance.' Sometimes he seriously wondered if it was a secret worth hiding…

"So…how have you been? You doin' anything tonight?" Shinichi eagerly tried to change the subject. He was determined to make this conversation end on a positive note.

"As a matter of fact I am," Ran replied. She looked at her watch; 6:30pm. "I've going out in an hour or so to…meet someone."

Shinichi took a moment to register the words and convince himself that yes, they had indeed come out of Ran's mouth. His jaw dropped open slightly as he tried to muster words together to speak…going out to meet someone! His stomach began to feel uneasy. "_What? _But…but…"

Ran just smirked, and she could almost hear the blood boiling inside of him. She just got his attention—and in a big way. "But what? I said, I'm going out later to meet someone," she reiterated clearly; she definitely did not intend on having her words twisted.

"Who?" he demanded.

"Well, wouldn't _you_ like to know?"

Shinichi wasn't even trying to hide his feelings at this point; the green-eyed monster lurking inside of him had just been giving a rude awakening… and Ran was proud to say that _she_ was the one who caused it.

"As a matter of fact, I _would_," he stated bitterly. "Hence my asking! So…who is it? Is it…a date or…something?" All right—perhaps it _was_ time to tone down the jealousy a little. It was too obvious, and he could already tell Ran would have a ball with it if she knew…of course, it was too late.

"Maybe—maybe not. I don't have to tell you anything." She grinned, feeling oddly dominant—she could definitely get used to this. "Maybe it's Kaitou Kid…or…hmm! Maybe that _cute_ new transfer student in Psychology…"

"Wait…who?" He twitched slightly at hearing the mention of Kid, but he was distracted and his ears perked up at hearing about someone he had never met. Ran had completely lied; there _was_ no new transfer student. But really, Shinichi didn't have to know that…

"Riiight, I forgot! You wouldn't know him…" she replied. "Oh well! Too bad. He's a nice guy too…smart, athletic…actually, he's a lot like you, Shinichi."

He cringed, but said nothing.

"Well gee, you got awfully quiet." Ran smirked, but she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that maybe she had gone a little too far.

"Sorry," he replied; but he couldn't say much else. If she had to take a guess, she would probably bet that he was torturing himself by trying to figure out who this person was—and she would've been right. Shinichi sighed, and before they had known it, minutes began to pass.

"_Conan, come on! We're leaving…"_

Ran had listened closely, and she could've sworn she heard something in the background, but she brushed it off and ignored it. She had finally gotten frustrated at the lack of conversation. "Well, you know, if you're not going to say anything—"

"I've got to go, Ran."

Shinichi abruptly cut her off, and Ran looked bewildered. "What?"

"I've got. To go," he repeated slowly. "Have fun on your _date_."

At this point she could definitely tell that he wasn't exactly happy. She heard the phone cut off and hung up, feeling a tad angry at him for that herself, though she had doubts about whether or not she had the right to be. Her watch blinking 7:00pm then called her attention and told her that it was time to go on her "date"—which in fact, wasn't a date at all.

She toyed with the thought of calling him back to apologize as she began to walk in the night, and after about ten minutes, she had found herself at Conan's elementary school. She could see that groups of kids had already gathered at the front of the school—the bus must have dropped them off already. They had taken an educational field trip lasting three days long (the weekend), and Conan was part of the group. He was quite excited about the trip; since no one else was home however, Ran happily agreed to pick him up.

She looked around and smiled when she finally found him, immersed in a crowd, surrounded by (of course) the Detective Boys. She didn't realize how much she would miss him, and it had only been three days! He didn't notice her approaching, and she simply stood there for a few moments, wondering if he would turn around and see her.

"Yeah…I might need a ride home Ayumi-chan. I think Ran-neechan might be busy…"

"Try looking behind you, Conan," Ayumi giggled. "Hi, Ran-neechan!"

Ran grinned at her warm greeting. "Hi, Ayumi!" she replied. Conan suddenly turned around and looked at her with a blank expression, having conflicting feelings about how to act. _Happy thoughts; think happy thoughts Kudo…Shinichi may be mad at her but remember, Conan is not_, he told himself.

"Oh, Ran-neechan…you're here…I thought you had…_other_ plans…" He could only manage a half-smile, even after Ran had bent down to hug him.

"Of course I'm here; what did you_ think_ I would be doing tonight?" she laughed. "I really missed you! Don't ever leave me like that again, okay?"

Conan's eyes widened, and he looked down at himself. Yep—he was still Conan. Not Shinichi…

"Ah…it was only a three-day field trip, Ran-neechan…" was his only reply.

"I know, I know…" Ran replied excitedly. "But still! You have to tell me all about your trip when we get home, okay?"

He nodded slowly without a word. Her eyes glazed over him, a little worried at the silence; perhaps something had gone wrong on the trip? She pondered the thought, but decided not to let it bother her for the moment. She just laughed, which actually caught Conan's attention.

"I finally got a call from Shinichi today," she told him.

He raised an eyebrow, his expression still unchanging. "Oh, really…?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yep…I think he's a little ticked at me though," she admitted with a chuckle. "He thinks I'm on a date now 'cause I told him I was 'meeting someone' tonight. It's not like I was lying! I agreed to meet _you_ at the school to pick you up from your trip today! I just didn't tell _him_ that…" She sighed. "I guess I did tease him a little much, though…who would've thought he could get jealous? Maybe I should apologize…"

Conan blinked disbelievingly, staring at her in complete awe as she talked. It took a moment for the words to process, but when they did, they hit him like a ton of bricks. He had gotten jealous of—himself? He couldn't help but laugh at himself, which warranted an inquiring look from Ran.

"What?" she asked.

He smiled his genuine Shinichi-like smile at her. "Nothing," he giggled. "Don't apologize to him, though…he's just an idiot for jumping to conclusions so fast."

She joined him in his laughter—that was a good point. "If you say so…" she replied. Sometimes she got the feeling that he knew Shinichi better than she did; it was so easy to trust him. Conan shook his head, the smile stained on his face, and finally he slapped his forehead in hidden embarrassment.

_Oh Ran…just you wait. I'll remember this…and when I finally come back, you can definitely expect some retaliation…_


	7. In the Shadows

**Title:** In the Shadows  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #3—find me in the dark  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Ran never did like the dark. It just played too many tricks on you…

_This title actually comes from a song by a Finnish Pop/Rock group called _The Rasmus_—they're not very well known though, which is unfortunate, because they are **awesome**. Oh well. Enjoy the story. n.n_

* * *

It was said that the only thing man had to fear was fear itself—but Ran begged to differ.

Ever since she was a child, she never liked the dark. In fact, she probably wouldn't admit it then, but she was probably _still_ afraid of it. The notion of the unknown did not appeal to her, and being the little clever detective he was, Shinichi had figured it out relatively early on in life. Naturally, he teased her about it. It was just something kids did.

Only recently did he stop, and it was only because he wasn't around.

"You sure you don't want me to come in with you, Ran? It's pretty late, and I don't particularly want you to get in trouble with your father. You _are_ late y'know…"

"No _kidding_," Ran replied with a sigh. She watched the car pull up to the Mouri Detective Agency and checked the time. One o'clock in the morning—she should've been home an hour ago. At _least_.

"Sorry…" Sonoko lowered her head, and Ran managed to smile at her.

"Don't worry about it. I guess I should've paid more attention to the time," she sighed. "Anyway, dad can get over it…he's probably drunk off his ass, anyway." She rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the car, gathering her purse and coat as she did so. "Thanks for the ride."

Sonoko nodded. "Call me tomorrow, 'kay?"

Ran agreed, shutting the car door and gave them a playful salute as they drove off. She slowly approached the door, the sound of her house keys clinking replacing the eerie silence that had been there before. She shuddered as a light gust of wind blew; she would've rather gotten a ride home with a drunk driver than endure walking home at _that _hour. She was glad Sonoko could provide her a ride.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, letting it creek for all the world to hear.

"Dad, I'm home! Sorry I'm late…I…dad?"

Well, that was strange.

She had the perfect scenario sketched in her head of what would happen the second she opened that door, and within that first second, it was broken. Already, she was wrong…

First; it was dark. Pitch dark. She didn't understand why; the streetlights were working, the stars were out, the moon was full…but she definitely could recognize pitch black. After all, there wasn't much else to recognize…

Second; where in hell's name _was _her father? She was sure he would be up, just waiting to yell at her. Perhaps he had gone to sleep…but if he had, it was certainly not in his room. She moved towards the far right wall of the living room and felt around for the light switch.

…and there was the magic third. The lights wouldn't turn on.

_Perfect_, she thought to herself. She sighed, looking out the window; the streetlights were still on, and it looked like her neighbors had light too. She raised an eyebrow—that certainly didn't make any sense. Had the fuse blown out? How could no one have noticed?

Well, it _was_ late…

She wandered into Conan's room, and nearly panicked when she discovered that he wasn't there. Quickly she reminded herself that he had gone to spend the night at Mitsuhiko's house; something about video games and the like. She breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she really was going hysterical…

Upon further inspection of the house, she still found no trace of her father. She knew that he had a tendency to go out and drink, but she also knew that even he wasn't stupid enough to leave without leaving some kind of note, or message.

The moonlight seeped through the large living room window, illuminating the place at least a little bit more than before. She could see silhouettes and could barely make out some of the details of the room, which was enough to, at the very least, keep her from bumping into everything and hurting herself.

She suddenly froze—movement! She heard it, she knew she did, and she thought she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.

"Who's there!" she demanded. "Dad, if this is your stupid idea of getting me back for coming home late, it's really _not_ funny!"

Laughter followed—laughter she recognized, and it wasn't her own. She wasn't alone…

"_That_ old geezer? He can't even come up with _stupid_ ideas."

Ran narrowed her eyes; she knew that voice all too well. She couldn't forget it even if she tried—not that she wanted to. No, she would never want to forget him…

"Shinichi, you _jerk_! Where are you? Come out so I can kick your ass!"

A light chuckle, and not a hint of fear in it. That was all she could get out of him. "You'll have to find me fiiirst…" Shinichi teased with a grin. "Maybe I'm by the couch…or by the kitchen…or by the phone…or right behind you…"

Ran whirled around with a gasp—and he laughed again. She growled. "I_ hate_ you," she hissed; lying right through her teeth. "This is your fault, I can just feel it. You know I hate the dark!"

"Now, now, Ran…" And Ran could just sense his evil Shinichi smirk. "I thought you'd be happy to see me…?"

"I don't_ see_ _any_thing!" Ran hissed. Frustration built up inside of her as she continued to look around, feeling like a total fool. Damn him for being right. Damn her for being in love with a man surrounded by so much mystery…literally and figuratively! The shadows had always protected him and all of his secrets—behind his disappearance, his feelings; _every_thing—and here, they were working against her. They always had been.

"God _damn_ you, Kudo."

She sighed and found the couch, making herself comfortable on it; she'd never really called him by his last name before. It was a rather odd feeling, and she decided she didn't like it.

"Aw, come on, don't give up so easily," Shinichi encouraged. "It can't be _that_ hard, can it? Maybe you could ask a bat for help…"

"A _bat_?" Ran repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah! Their eyesight is really poor, and they have to rely—"

"—on echolocation," she finished. "Yeah, I _know_, Shinichi, I'm not _stupid_. You told me that yourself when we were little. Unlike _you_, however, _I_ am normal, and _I_ do not talk to bats. Nor do I plan to."

She heard him yawn and then chuckle again. He sounded completely relaxed, which was the opposite of Ran. "Normal is overrated…" He smirked, though she couldn't see him, and he said nothing afterwards. He knew that eventually, the uncomfortable silence would get to her and she'd start looking for him again. The Ran he knew wouldn't stand being idle in the quiet darkness for too long...

Three.

Two.

One…

"That's it!" As if on queue, Ran shot up into the air and began to look around in a paranoid manner. She stood herself upright and glared. "I'm going to track you down and make you fix these damn lights. Why won't they turn on?" Her eyes and ears were alert, and if there was any sign movement in the room, she would know. She kept her hands in front of her and to her sides as she maneuvered her way around the dark room. It wasn't long before she noticed that he hadn't said anything in response to her.

"Shinichi?"

Ran was beginning to feel like this was just a game of Marco Polo gone horribly, terribly wrong. She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "You can't stay still and silent forever, you know." Great—and now she was practically talking to herself.

_Guard up, eyes peeled…guard up, eyes peeled…_ She repeated the thoughts over and over in her head, her eyes jerking around the room endlessly, and suddenly—movement! There was no doubt about it. _Some_one had just gone by the stairs, and being that she never found her father in the house that night, there was only one person it could be.

"Aha! Gotcha, Shinichi!"

With force, Ran threw her arms forth and grabbed what_ felt_ like another arm. She yanked it back hard; suddenly she heard a yelp, andbefore she knew it, the lights came blaring hatefully into her eyes. "Ahh!" Her grip quickly loosened off of the arm, which then moved to shield her eyes. "Oww!"

"Man, Ran-neechan, _what_ are you _doing_?"

Her eyes sprung open at the child-like voice, and she blinked to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. And she blinked again. And again. And again… nope. Conan was still there.

"Conan-kun! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at Mitsuhiko's?"

Conan groggily scratched his head. "Well, I _was_ sleeping until I heard all that yelling," he told her bitterly. "Mitsuhiko ended up getting sick, so his mom decided it be best if we hold off the sleepover. Why the heck were you fumbling around in the dark?"

Ran blinked. "In the…oh! The lights...they didn't work…" He looked up at the light he had just turned on, and then raised an eyebrow at her. She frowned. "I swear, they didn't!" she defended herself. "And I couldn't find dad, either! Do you know where he is?"

He pointed to the kitchen, and there Kogoro slept happily, passed out on the dinner table with a beer can in his hand. Ran's eyes widened, and she hit herself repeatedly. "Impossible…he wasn't there before, I'm telling you! He wasn't anywhere! And where…?"

She looked around, feeling better about it now since she could actually see. "Where is Shinichi?"

Conan sighed. "Shinichi again?" he asked.

"He was here!" Ran exclaimed.

He shot her a look that made her feel like the dumbest person on the planet, and he just yawned. "You're crazy, Ran-neechan," he decided finally. "You were probably sleep-walking."

"I don't sleep-walk!"

"You do too!"

"How do you know?"

Conan froze and sighed, growling slightly under his breath. Sometimes, he wished he could just _tell_ her already and be done with it. Shinichi had all sorts of memories of Ran's sleep-walking from when they were little—when their parents actually let them spend the night with each other. "Never mind that, Ran-neechan. Just go to sleep. You look like you need it."

She sighed and held her head, feeling frustrated. She hadn't sleep-walked in years. It just wasn't possible…but it certainly did make sense. "Good night, Conan," she called exasperatedly as he walked up the stairs. He waved to her as she fell back on the couch, looking utterly exhausted.

Ran really, really hated the dark…


	8. From Me to You

**Title:** From Me to You  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #38—alone at night  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Hey, Shinichi, are you here yet? I have a gift for you, and I bet you have no idea why…

_8/40—I'm a fifth of the way there! n.n_

* * *

The aroma of chocolate, the quiet yet playful humming of a very happy Mouri Ran, and the cloudless evening sky all worked together to create the amiable atmosphere that blanketed over the Mouri Detective Agency that day. Empty beer cans were gone, and with them went the alcoholic scent. Dishes washed, floors vacuumed…simply put: Ran was in a good mood.

And who could blame her? After being gone on a case with Megure-keibu for almost half of their Spring Break, Kudo Shinichi would finally be coming back that day. She had insisted on going with him, but he had promptly dissuaded her, promising that for the remainder of the break after his return, he would stay clear of any murders, conspiracies, kidnappings, et cetera—to make up for lost time.

Only a couple more hours remained until it would be time to finally pick him up from the airport. The case was in Osaka, and Shinichi had called earlier that morning to happily inform her that the case had been wrapped up, thanks to Heiji and himself; and it was then that she had started do the last of her preparations.

What could've possibly been so important as to make Ran slave over a hot stove for hours? Valentine's Day had come and gone, and May fourth was not for another month yet. No, this was to commemorate a different event…one Shinichi may have considered trivial, but obviously, Ran felt differently.

_Riiing. Riiing._

Her thoughts interrupted, Ran had glanced in the direction of the phone, waiting to see if anyone would actually pick up.

_Riiing. Riiing._

She stared a few moments, and after deciding that no one intended on picking it up, she finally did so herself, in hopes of making the call as quick as possible. She didn't have that much to finish those cookies! Even though they were only bite-sized, baking them was still a chore…

"Hello?"

"Ran-chan, hey!" a cheerful voice greeted her; and Ran had to smile. She began to multitask. Maybe she could make this phone call last a while after all.

"Kazuha-chan! How are you?" She put another batch of cookies into the oven and began to relax, leaning her back against the sink while she waited for them to finish. Almost obsessively, she checked over the time. The last thing she wanted was to be late to see him, after making all that fuss about him leaving in the first place.

"Fine, fine," Kazuha replied happily. "Have you talked to Kudo yet? That case was finally solved and he and Megure-keibu—oh, and all of his officers—are heading back to Beika today!"

Ran laughed and she considered acting surprised at the news, just for her, but quickly changed her mind. "Sorry, Kazuha, but I already knew. He called me this morning," she grinned. "He's been a lot better about that."

"Darn it! _I_ wanted to be the one to tell you..." Kazuha sighed and in her head, Ran could almost picture her pouting. "Ah well…I guess there wasn't much point to calling then."

Well, that was just great—guilt tugging at her was exactly what she needed to compliment the stress of finishing her cookies. "Aw, don't sound so sad," Ran encouraged her with a giggle. "It's not like we can't talk about something else. We _are _friends, after all."

Kazuha giggled as well. "I know, I know," she replied. "But I don't want to bother you. I know you're busy."

Ah! She understood after all. Ran had almost forgotten that she had already chatted to Kazuha about her little plan for Shinichi's return. She giggled, though she was unwilling to make any move to leave the conversation until she did.

"I'll let you go, okay? Let me know how everything goes." Kazuha chuckled and after Ran complied, they both hung up, leaving Ran to once again concentrate on her cooking. There were only a couple batches left—and with just enough time, too. She took the cookies in the batch she had put into the oven earlier—which were done—and added them to a large bag, which contained even more cookies. She shook her head as she felt the bag get heavier and heavier and she couldn't help but laugh at herself. This was crazy.

"What the _hell _are you doing?" The sudden voice boomed through the room, startling her, and Ran quickly whirled around. "You've been hogging the stove for hours, and it doesn't look like you've even made dinner yet!"

Kogoro looked appalled at his daughter's strange behavior, and Ran just rolled her eyes. "Dad, I told you that you'd have to get your own dinner today," she reminded him. "Do you remember that?"

He growled. "Yeah, but it doesn't make me any less curious about what you're doing," he replied in frustration. She just smirked, not at all intending on telling her father anything. He would just give her a hard time, which would spark anger inside of her, and she didn't want that.

"Sorry," was the only response she gave.

Surrendering, Kogoro walked away. He was still slightly bitter that the 'no-good, amateur detective Kudo Shinichi' had replaced him in going to solve what was to be _his_ case. He hadn't even known about it until after they had left, though he felt slightly better in knowing that they had gone by plane—it meant that he wouldn't have gone anyway. Curse that phobia of his…

_This is officially the most girly thing I've ever done_, Ran mentally decided; and she put the last of the cookies into the bag, all prepared and ready to leave with her—and to be given to Shinichi.

Thanks to her newly acquired driver's license, she could safely drive to airport by herself. It would be the first time that Ran was alone on the road but, she figured there had to be a first time for everything—and now was a good a time as any.

She drove to the airport, being proud to say that she safely avoided all collisions, crazy drivers and lunatics, and the time came for her to wait once again. Ran found the waiting area and kept a close eye on the arrival times on the screen they had provided. So far their flight was set to land at 8:00pm, and there had been no delays.

8:00pm had quickly come and gone however, and still there no sign of their flight. 8:30pm arrived, and _finally_ there was a change in the arrival time, signaled by the blaring red _DELAY_ next to the flight number on the screen. Landing time: 10:00pm. Ran sighed, holding her head. _All right…all right…I can deal with an extra hour or two_, she told herself. _Nothing compared to the year I waited for him that one time…_

Ran began to feel alone, even in the large crowd of people. The bag of cookies she held in her hand began to feel heavy, which convinced her that perhaps she should take a seat. She promptly obeyed her body and did so, letting the bag rest in her lap as she watched the hands on the clock continuously tick forward.

9:00pm. 9:15pm. 9:45pm. 10:00pm. 10:30pm. 10:45pm—where the _hell_ was he?

She sighed, getting up to check the screen again—perhaps there had been another delay.

_LANDED_.

Oookaaay…so he was there. Somewhere. That was certainly a start.

When another hour passed by however, even her unrivaled patience began to give way. She seriously considered leaving. Knowing him, he probably had a member of his stupid fan club rent a limousine and drive him away.

Ran rolled her eyes at the thought, becoming more and more annoyed by the second and finally she got up to leave. She felt completely prepared to let the cookies rot on the ground, even after all the hours of labor she spent on it—and she would've, had a hand not caught the bag after she let it go.

"Heey, what's this—_whoa_! It's heavy!"

Ran looked up to see the face attached to the hand. She stared, being completely baffled for a few moments before finally registering her best friend—crush—Kudo Shinichi.

"Sh…Shi…"

"Is this your surprise you told me about, Ran?"

Her eyes blinked, and she couldn't even finish her thought. Had she told him about it too? She really had to learn to control her mouth when she was excited; she was probably lucky she didn't give away the whole thing. Well…at the very least, she wasn't alone anymore.

"Yeah…yeah that's it," she replied, as if she wasn't sure.

Shinichi held up the bag, looking at it from all angles. "Looks like you put quite a bit of work into this. You almost smashed it," he informed her. "Be careful."

Ran nodded. Her confidence she had in making those cookies had suddenly gone away, and she felt—scared? She wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't comfortable. And around her friend, no less. She couldn't even form words!

"Oh, sorry about being late by the way," he added. "The plane got delayed, and then we got held up by some luggage problems…apparently the plane tried to eat mine. Heh, you know how it goes…"

She giggled. "Uh huh…"

There was silence and Shinichi stared at the bag in his hand intently. He wasn't sure if he should open it quite yet, but it definitely intrigued him. "So…ah…what is this thing?" He held up the bag, reading the words _From Me to You_. "Can I open it now, or should I wait?"

"Ah? Oh! You can open that now," Ran giggled with a nod. "Sorry."

Shinichi grinned, rapidly tearing the bag open at the top and looked inside to find the bite-sized cookies. He pulled one out and smiled at it; it wasn't until then he realized how much he was glad to see it. "Heeey, cookies!" he admired. "Awesome. I'm starving." He bit the cookie and began to eat it, the chocolate tasting like heaven on Earth. "Mmm. Much better than airplane food."

Ran smiled at the reaction. "I'm glad you feel that way," she replied. "Because there are a hundred of them."

The tantei began to cough, nearly choking on the chocolate as his eyes widened. He took a huge gulp, and after coughing a few crumbs out of his throat, he turned to her. "A _hundred_? You mean to tell me you baked me a _hundred_ of these little things?"

She nodded proudly, using his own smirk against him.

"What reason could you _possibly_ have for doing that?" he asked.

Ran folded her arms. "Is that the thanks I get? Eesh." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I guess next time I want to congratulate you on something, I'll reconsider…"

"Congratulate me on something…?"

Shinichi looked inside the bag, finding a small piece of paper inside; he pulled it out and unfolded it, reading the words he saw.

_Congratulations on 100 mysteries solved! I bet you didn't know I've been keeping records of all your cases, huh?_

His eyes widened in disbelief, and he mentally pinched himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Are you serious?" He looked up at her, and this time it was him who was baffled, which made Ran a little more confident. She pulled out two notebooks, labeled _The Cases of Kudo Shinichi_, and held them up so he could see.

"I was going to give them to you for your birthday, but you weren't here." Ran handed the notebooks to him and enjoyed the dumbfounded expression on his face as he flipped through them. He certainly _did_ look excited. "One hundred cookies for one hundred cases…Takagi-keiji and Megure-keibu did have to help me a bit though." She lowered her head a little with an innocent look on her face.

He shut the notebooks and then smiled, keeping completely calm. "Ran…you are crazy."

She blinked, becoming worried that he may not have liked the gifts.

"And that's why you are _awesome_." Shinichi laughed and hugged her. "I can't wait to show this to the officers…" He found himself looking through the notebooks again, letting the memories of his past cases flow back to him. The details were etched clear in his mind, as if they all happened the day before.

"Hey, where are they anyway?" Ran asked. She looked around. "Didn't they come out with you?"

"Oh, yeah," he replied. "Megure-keibu went home, and I think Takagi and Satou had some other plans…probably a date, knowing those two."

Ran giggled. "Well, we'd better be off then," she replied. "It's getting late."

Shinichi looked at his watch and stretched, looking all about him. "What are you talking about? The night is young! We still have time for a da…ah, hanging out." He grinned innocently.

She smiled, stifling a laugh at his words. "Yeah. Hanging out," she repeated, smirking—and she could hear a little voice in her head.

_If that's what you want to call it…_

* * *

_**A/N:** And the rest, I leave to imagination :D Oh, and that random, microscopic bit of Takagi/Satou at the end? Randomly decided to put it in for **sapphirestars** and her 30 Kisses... just because I'm sneaky and lurker-ish like that. Mwahaha. xD_


	9. Beginning a New Day

**Title:** Beginning a New Day  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #25—release of the evils  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** When life gives you a day from hell, sometimes the best thing to do is to just wait for it to end…

_Can you spot the Thirty Kisses themes? Lol :P_

* * *

It was the worst of times.

No, there was really no 'best' about it; it was just a horrible, stupid, no good, very bad day. But that was okay. Ran knew that those days were bound to happen every once and a while—to her, and to everyone else. They were normal. Completely normal. She also knew, however, that she tended to be just a tad testy on those particular days, so she usually isolated herself for a while to keep from snapping at anyone, and saying things she'd later regret.

Shinichi could always tell when she was having one of those days, and he took pride in knowing that (at least most of the time), he could help her out of the intense bad mood they put her in. Of course, then there were those rare situations.

Those rare situations when they were both unfortunate enough to have life chuck _many_ lemons at them—and tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, and anything else it could think of to ruin both of their days. When that occurred, both of them took the hints and knew to leave the other alone.

And when Ran walked in at six in the evening that Friday, the hints were blaring.

That distinctive glare.

The clenched fists.

The exasperated sigh…

Yes, Mouri Ran was definitely ticked off at something or some_one_.

"Bad day?" Conan inferred, at a first glance.

Ran simply grunted, letting herself fall against the comfort that was their couch. He nodded, deciding that her actions served as a sufficient answer to his question, and did not prod further. Instead, he simply excused himself to his room, where he remained for a good amount of time while Ran rested. Not too long after, however, he appeared once more.

"Ran-neechan, I almost forgot…" Conan pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and held it out in front of her. "I found this in the mailbox earlier. It's for you." He smiled and Ran just blinked, slightly confused. She took the paper with a sigh and unfolded it quickly.

_Hey, Ran!_

_I've finally got some time to spare, and I know you've wanted to see me since our brief meeting last time. So meet me outside under the Sakura tree in the field near my house at around 11:45 tonight, okay? You know—the same one we always played around when we were little. I don't have that much time, so you better not be late! Don't wanna miss me, now do you? _

_-Shinichi_

_(And you better not fall asleep, either!)_

She rolled her eyes, crumpling up the paper and pocketing it. "He thinks he's such a superstar, talking like it's_ such_ a big privilege to see him…stupid jerk." Somewhere inside her however—somewhere deep inside—she was happy to see that letter.

Though she was only muttering, Ran's words were quite audible. "So does that mean you're not going…?" Conan asked wearily. She sat back down on the couch and looked thoughtful for a moment, and then shook her head.

"Nah, I'll go," she replied exasperatedly. "Maybe he's had as bad a day as I have…"

Conan chuckled, though he became slightly curious as to what exactly had gone wrong that day. He shook it off however, convincing himself that he'd most likely find out later. "Well…anyway, there's a group project Ai-chan and I have to work on together, and Dr. Agasa agreed to help us tonight. Is it all right if I go over?" He cupped his hands together and looked as innocent as he possibly could.

"Now?" Ran asked, with a twinge of suspicion in her voice. She looked outside, noticing the looming darkness, and she shrugged. "Well…I guess so, but you're not walking there at this hour, and dad's out tonight. Is Dr. Agasa willing to come get you?" She folded her arms.

"Uhm…" Conan scratched his head. "Well, I can call him and ask. I'm sure he won't mind."

She nodded approvingly at his response. "Fine, then. Don't come back too late," she instructed. "Dad should be home to let you in if I'm not here, so you shouldn't need a key."

He grinned widely, almost excitedly, and he bowed. "Thank you, Ran-neechan!"

He disappeared then, without anymore words to Ran, and later, he was picked up by Dr. Agasa. Ran assumed that he must've agreed to that ride they had discussed earlier and simply let him go with no questions. It was rather late, but Conan was responsible, and for some reason, Ran knew she could trust him—and Dr. Agasa, of course.

At that point, the voices in her head began to yell and argue about whether or not she should meet Shinichi. There was no denying it; she definitely wanted to go. But there was one side of her that wanted to leave him waiting out there, just to spite him.

That side must've lost the argument quite miserably, because pretty soon she found herself walking towards the Sakura tree, in a much better mood than before. She found the fresh air quite soothing, and ultimately she felt glad that she decided to go. The walk there had calmed her considerably, and though the night was biting cold, she had made it a point to ignore it.

As she approached the tree, Ran quickly noticed the silhouette of a man leaning against it, and she recognized Shinichi right off.

"Hey," she greeted him casually. She saw him move slightly, though the shadows had concealed him quite well.

"Hi, there." Shinichi stepped away from the tree and approached her slowly with a smile. "Miss me?"

Ran could practically see his arrogant smirk.

"Maybe," she replied nonchalantly. "Did you?" She folded her arms.

"If I didn't, would I have asked you to come meet me?" Shinichi began to lead her out into open field, where the light of the moon could reach them. He chuckled lightly as he lied down against the fine-cut grass, its coldness sending shivers up and down his spine.

Ran sat down next to him, though she didn't lie down the way he did. "I guess not," she replied. She turned to him, seeing the moonlight illuminating his face. "Why did you ask me to meet you, anyway?"

The tantei sat back up, deciding that the grass was uncomfortable, and he shrugged. "Well, the kid told me you were having a bad day…figured I might be able to cheer you up," he told her. "You know, that kid who lives with you now. Conan was the name, I think."

She rolled her eyes, sighing. "Do you realize that you talk to _him_ more than me?" she asked disbelievingly.

He remained silent, feeling slight nervousness. Using Conan as his excuse for knowing certain aspects of Ran's life had evidently become a habit without him noticing. He spent quite some time trying to change the subject, but in the end, Ran had done it for him.

"What are you doing?"

She had noticed the light of Shinichi's watch on, and he had been staring at it. Once it went out, he pushed the same button he pushed the first time, and the watch lit up again. He did it over and over again, simply smiling without even turning to her.

"Well, I don't know what happened to you today…but sometimes," he explained, "when you have a day from hell, the best thing to do is to wait for it to end. You know, so you can start the new day fresh."

Ran began to look at her watch as well, and with a smile of understanding. "So that's why you asked me out here so late," she figured. "It's almost the end of the day…"

Shinichi smiled. "Yep. And I figured since I had some time tonight, we might as well begin the new day together. See? It'll be midnight in just a couple minutes."

She nodded, her attention focused on his watch now as opposed to her own, and they stared unwaveringly at it. It turned 11:59, and Ran became even more excited to see the light of a new day. They watched the seconds fly by in silence...

"Here we go." Shinichi grinned as they approached the 10-second mark. "Let's count down together okay? Come on…ten…"

Ran took a deep breath. "Nine…"

"Eight…"

"Seven…"

"Six…"

"Fi…Shi…Shinichi?"

She began to notice that he began to breathe heavily, panting, and she could see him sweating. "I'm fine, I'm fine!" Shinichi brushed off quickly. "C'mon, keep going… three…"

"Two…" Ran looked worriedly at him.

"One…"

_Beep-beep. Beep-beep. Beep-beep._

Ran felt the malicious anxiety flow out of her body with each beep the watch gave to signal midnight; it was as if all the tension that had built up inside of her had been released, oozing out of the fences that had barred them in. Shinichi noticed that feeling in her and he smiled, though still panting and sweating profusely. "See? Doesn't that…feel…good…?"

"Shinichi, don't…no, stop, don't worry me like that. Hey!" She could feel his limbs getting weaker as she caught him, and it became obvious that he was struggling to hold himself up. "Come on, if you're not okay, just say so, and don't try to hide it like a tough guy!"

He looked like he was in pain. A lot of it. But still, Shinichi resisted her and finally, he stood up on his own. "Ran, I…I have to go, I told you…I told you I didn't have much time…I'm sorry…"

"But…wait, where are you going? That path doesn't go anywhere…it's going deeper into the woods. What are you doing?" Ran paced a few steps towards him, struggling to see as he slipped further and further away from her, and out of her range of vision—which was shortened even more by the dark.

"Go home Ran…"

He was ignoring everything she was saying and seemed intent on escape…

"But—"

"Go home!"

Ran could tell he was shooing her away, and instinctively she began to listen to him, backing away slowly. Was that desperation in his voice just now?

A rustling sound startled her and finally pushed her into obeying his commands; she began to run without really meaning to, and she kept running, just hoping to god she was doing the right thing. The whole time she couldn't shake the feeling that she had just abandoned him, but she absolutely resisted looking back. This was what he wanted, and perhaps one day, she'd know why.

She finally found her way home and burst through the doors in a huff, feeling like she had just been chased. Kogoro, who had been sleeping peacefully on the couch, had woken up, startled. He panted heavily as just as Ran had and it took a few seconds for him to register what had happened. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

She shut the door behind her and leaned against it protectively, trying to slow down her heart beat and breathing. "Nothing…" she replied tiredly; she wouldn't have had enough breath to explain herself even if she wanted to.

Ran then felt a knock at the door, and she looked alarmed. She listened to the knocking for a few moments to see if the person would reveal who he was, and Kogoro rolled his eyes at her, becoming impatient. He got up to take a peek out of the window and just yawned, his expression unchanging.

"It's just the brat—would you just open it already? Jeez…"

She stared at her father looking completely dumbfounded, and finally, she turned around to face the door. Her hand grasped the knob and she made sure to put a smile on her face as she opened the door to greet Conan; he looked tired as well.

"Hi, Ran-neechan." He grinned meekly and let himself inside, wiping off the little diamonds of sweat on his forehead. "Glad to see you're smiling again…"

Her eyes widened upon seeing him; he looked so uncomfortably hot, yet it had been such a cold night. "You poor dear, what happened to you?" Ran exclaimed with a frown. She knelt down next to him, pulling out a handkerchief to use on his red face. "Didn't Dr. Agasa drop you off? Why are you so tired and sweaty?"

Conan could sense her motherliness kicking in, and he stuttered for a few moments, trying to conjure up a brilliant excuse. He would've drabbled off on one, only he noticed that Ran wasn't even really listening. It seemed she was still shaken up by their sudden parting; he mentally scolded himself, swearing that his timing would be much better next time.

"Man, it looks like your day didn't start out too well…"

Ran finally stood up, taking a final look at him as she folded her arms. Her words broke Conan out of a trance, and he just chuckled, shaking his head.

"No, no—it started fine," he grinned. "It was great, in fact…"

She raised an eyebrow; not one inch of her believed him for a minute, but she was tired of trying to get others to tell her their stories. If Conan had something to say, he would, and that was just it. No more pestering people, no more begging for them for explanations.

Conan realized she wasn't convinced, but he didn't let it bother him. Instead he just smiled. "No, really, Ran-neechan. I couldn't have asked for a better start. Thank you…"

And at that point, Ran looked even more confused than she was before; she watched as Conan approached the stairs, presumably to go take a shower or go to sleep, and she kept her eye on him for a few moments before finally pushing herself to say something. "For what?" she asked.

Conan stopped and turned to her. It wasn't until he went to open his mouth to say something that he realized he had no idea how to respond—especially since he didn't even mean to thank her aloud in the first place. He simply shook his head, continuing his ascent up the stairs.

"Nothing…"

* * *

_**A/N:** And #9 is complete, FINALLY :D This will be my last post for a while, as I am going to the Virgin Islands for Spring Break and won't be back for a little while. So just hang on tight and 10'll be out in no time! 'Till then, ciao!_


	10. Family Portrait

**Title:** Family Portrait  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #23—like an art piece  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** The two were looking towards an…interesting future.

_10/40—twenty-five percent complete…_

* * *

Kudo Shinichi was, undeniably, a very well-rounded person. Even Kogoro had to admit it: the pesky brat had a damn bright future ahead of him.

He could've been anything—the obvious choice was of course, a detective, but there were many, many other options open to him. He could see himself doing many things with his life, and when anyone asked him things like "where do you see yourself in twenty years?" … well, let's just say the answer was quite open-ended…

His athletic qualities could've easily led him to be a world-renowned soccer player.

His familiarity with the police force could've very well led to him being a very valuable asset to the homicidal investigation unit. (Hell, he practically already was.)

His_ lack_ of singing ability…

Well all right. Perhaps that was _one_ aspect of his character that worked against him. In general though, his future was seemingly endless; but of course, all good things had to end at _some_ point or another, and though there were a _number_ of things he could see himself doing in twenty years, one thing was for sure:

He _never_ saw babysitting as one of them.

"You're joking. You've _got_ to be joking. Is it April Fools' day?"

Shinichi glanced over to his calendar, and it stared back at him from the back of his door, telling him that it was clearly May already—nowhere near April 1. He then looked away from it disdainfully and heard a sigh, coming from the phone he was holding to his ear.

Ran, who was on the other side of the line, rolled her eyes; for such an intelligent teen, Shinichi could be quite immature at times. "No, Shinichi, I'm not joking," she reassured him. "I really don't want to do this alone. Pleeasee? It's just for a couple hours!"

Queue the whining.

"But Ran, I don't _do_ children!" Shinichi replied. "_You_ were the one who agreed to it. Mrs. Yoshida is expecting_ you_ to do it. Besides, Ayumi likes you!"

"Come on, she likes you too! You know it!" Ran argued.

Shinichi smirked. _Probably a little more than I'd like_, he added mentally with a silent chuckle; but he didn't interrupt her.

"And I'll do most of the work! I just want someone with me…come on, pleeeaasseee? Shin-chan?"

He groaned lightly and sighed, taking note that she had carefully used his family nickname in her planned maneuver to convince him—and it was working. He didn't know what it was, but even without her (at times…) seductive looks and her presence, it was still difficult to say the word 'no.' Feeling him slowly cave in, Ran smiled at what she knew was going to end in her victory.

"…fine," Shinichi finally stammered. "But you'll owe me. Big."

She had to stifle a bit of happy giggling—finally, they would get to spend some time together; even if Ayumi _was_ going to be there. "Meet me at my house in ten, okay? It's walking distance, so we'll have no trouble getting over there. Unless of course Mr. Tough-Tantei's going to have trouble walking for ten whole minutes," Ran teased sarcastically with a smirk.

Shinichi rolled his eyes, already going into his closet and pulling out a red t-shirt and a pair of shorts to change into. "Oh haha, very funny," he replied. "If that's the case, then maybe I'll have trouble helping you out, too." He stuck his tongue out, though fully aware that she wouldn't see it.

"Yeah, uh-huh. Nice try." Ran laughed mockingly at his futile attempt to go back on his agreement. "I will see you in ten."

"Or so you hope," Shinichi mumbled, smiling devilishly.

"_What_ was that?"

"Nothing! See you in ten minutes."

In his wisest decision yet, he hung up the phone with a playful grin. He changed in no more than a couple minutes and spent the rest of the alleged ten slowly walking over to the Mouri Detective Agency, lost in his own mind. The sun shone brightly, and it was difficult not to notice the beautiful cherry blossom petals dancing through the air; spring had brought with it beautiful scenery, and it pained him that he would have to spend the day inside. Babysitting, no less.

Of course, as if Ran had read him like an open book, she had made similar comments about the scenery, and wasting the day indoors. Shinichi said nothing, yet he realized his thoughts had been read again when Ayumi too expressed her distaste for being trapped inside the house when it was 'raining cherry blossom petals.'

"Well, maybe if you ask your mom nicely, Shinichi-kun and I can take you to the park or something," Ran suggested with a smile. All eyes turned to Miss Yoshida as she slipped into her coat and grabbed a set of keys, letting it jingle its way into her pocket.

She flashed Ran a smile in return. "Of course you can," she told her. "I quite agree, it is a lovely day outside. Just be careful; be sure to have her back inside in the evening, for dinner and everything—and, give me a ring if you can, when you get in. The number is on the refrigerator."

The two nodded in wholehearted understanding of the set conditions, and then said their goodbyes to Miss Yoshida before heading off to the park, taking their time to enjoy the scenery. They let Ayumi stroll ahead, though keeping a close eye on her, and it seemed that many people had gotten the same idea they did. Children with their parents, and couples with their dogs, playing…

Suddenly Ayumi stopped, so quickly that if Ran didn't know any better, she'd have freaked out. She watched as Ayumi jumped up and down, trying to see above a large crowd ahead of her, and then saw her sway her head from side to side, attempting to see through the throng of people—it had nearly been rhythmic, and the look of determination in her eyes was almost frightening.

"Er…Ayumi…?"

"Mitsuhiko-kun!"

In a sudden burst of energy, she darted ahead, squeezing in through the crowd, and Ran and Shinichi had to follow, uttering things like 'pardon me' and 'coming through' as they pushed lightly through the people in a struggle to keep up with the child. Noticeably, it was much more difficult for the two of them to squeeze through.

"Ayumi-chan! What are you doing here?" Mitsuhiko's voice soared above the hum of the crowd.

"Nothing! Just relaxing, that's all, enjoying the nice day. Aren't your parents here?"

"Yeah, they're relaxing by that tree over there. We just had lunch. Oh, hi, Ran-neechan! Shinichi-kun!"

Ran sighed, breathing slightly heavier now, and put a hand on Ayumi's head; Shinichi simply stood behind her and waved. He was keeping her company, just like he was supposed to, and he had to admit, it was a little weird to pretend not to know the two when he had spent so much time with them.

"Don't run off like that, Ayumi-chan," she pleaded. "We need to know where you are, okay? Right, Shinichi?" Ran nudged him lightly, hoping to get at least a little peep out of him.

"Er—right!"

Ayumi hugged her apologetically and it looked like she had felt some remorse, but in the end, she smiled. "Okay!"

Ran returned her hug and lifted her from the ground, and she used her free hand to lightly ruffle Mitsuhiko's hair. "You don't go running off either, understand? Do your parents know where you are?" she asked.

Shinichi folded his arms as he observed the three of them, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. "Ran, you are such a mother…" he grinned, shaking his head. The comment had gone unnoticed; he simply inched closer her and reached up to pet Ayumi, who had ended up stroking Ran's hair, realizing for the first time how long and pretty it was. "You guys listen to Ran, m'kay? She knows what she's doing…" Shinichi told them.

The girl giggled, and Ran blushed slightly at the compliment. "Thanks…"

Before Shinichi could reply with a 'you're welcome', he felt a hand on his shoulder that had distracted him. He looked over to it suspiciously and he noticed Ran had a similar reaction; she must've felt it as well. Shinichi turned around, brushing the hand off, to see who it was; the touch seemed familiar.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! I was just wondering if you would want a picture of your wonderful family to remember Kids' Day." The stranger, female, stood before them, Polaroid camera in hand. Her hair was long and curly, and it definitely did not look natural. "You guys look so happy and perfect together, I couldn't ignore it."

Her smile was almost scary—just who was this person, to butt into their lives like that?

Shinichi and Ran stared at each other baffled, forgetting for the moment that it was May fifth, and Ran blushed immensely, realizing the implications of what this girl—woman—had just said. "No, no, you couldn't possibly think that he and I… I mean, we're…not…"

"Oh nonsense! Come, come. I promise, I'm an excellent photographer!" The stranger had pushed the two closer, and also put Mitsuhiko in front with them. "Come on dear, don't be shy! You want to be in the picture with your mommy and daddy now don't you?"

"Mommy and…? Wait, but, we're not…I mean, these two aren't…"

Ran was beat red, but for some reason, her brain-to-mouth connection had died, and she couldn't finish her sentences to save her life. The children were confused, but were content when they knew that a picture would be taken of them, and therefore said nothing to correct her. It was too late; the camera was in place, and Shinichi could see her finger on the button about to snap the picture. "Say cheese!"—and the finger lowered slowly…

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

He heard the picture being taken and afterwards immediately approached the stranger; she looked nervous as the Polaroid picture slowly came out, and watched as it fell to the ground. She then looked up to Shinichi, and you could tell she was panicked; backing away slowly, she didn't break eye contact with him until the very last, brief moment…before she began to run, saying no more explanation than "SEE YOU!"—and she was _fast_.

"Damn it," Shinichi cursed, punching his own hand in frustration since there was no wall within his reach.

Ran picked up the picture from the ground after letting Ayumi go and looked at it critically. She was blushing like mad; Shinichi _looked_ mad, and the children just looked utterly confused. The thing that amused her most was that it really _did_ look like some twisted family portrait—and she couldn't help but smile.

"Ah, let it go, tough guy," Ran grinned. "Look at this. This could be us in five, ten years, you know? Some dysfunctional family portrait…It's almost like work of art, with all the dark coloring. You'd almost think this was taken at night…"

"But…"

"Oh, it's not that I'm saying we're going to be married or anything…I mean, we're not even dating yet…it's not like I would want to get married this early anyway, I'm only nineteen after all…"

"But…"

"And I mean, it's not like I'm implying that we're going to have children or anything, I mean, god knows I don't need that kind of commitment right now, and of course I want to go to college…"

"But…"

"And certainly the two of us would be much older than this if we ever had children. We know much better than that, and we've had all the health classes and everything that have preached to us how bad being a teen parent is, and…"

"Ran!"

"What!" Ran finally stopped for breath.

Shinichi pointed in the direction that the stranger had run; and he had unmistakably noticed a wig of blonde, curly hair in the distance, lying on the ground—she had dropped it.

"That was Sonoko!"

And Ran froze; her hands loosened, the picture dropped…and the expression on her face was so priceless, a picture of it could've sold for millions—like a valuable piece of art.

They ran, and for the moment there was nothing in the world but them and their fair-weather friend.

…not even Ayumi and Mitsuhiko.

* * *

_**A/N:** And there you have it. Sorry it took a while…I've been dealing with just a minor, teensy _my-best-friend-threw-herself-in-front-of-a-train-and-killed-herself_ issue… so needless to say, I've been feeling pretty shitty. _

_My eternal thanks goes out to everyone (**Candyland**, **sapphirestars**…) who knew and offered their kind words to me—you guys have no idea how much it helped. _


	11. Fire in His Eyes

**Title:** Fire in His Eyes  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #11—you will never look at me  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** There was something different about him that night. You could see it in his eyes…

_Numero once ;P_

* * *

You know, I've never enjoyed being a light sleeper.

Just ask Shinichi—he could tell you. Ever since I was little, I would wake up to absolutely everything—pretty much any sound that I just couldn't get used to sleeping through. Footsteps outside my room; cars honking outside my window; chattering outside my door, if people were still awake in the house when I finally decided to turn in for the night…and of course, the phone.

Night cases were relatively light in the Beika area, but dad still got them occasionally, and it was only then that the phone would ring in the late hours.

I hated it.

Not only did it wake me up, but I always ended up being the one to answer the phone call, too. Dad slept like a bloody rock (there was a reason he was called the Sleeping Kogoro), and unfortunately, I never inherited that gene. It was nice when Conan was around—he never minded answering the phone, but he left already. So it was just the two of us, and only me left to answer the calls.

Sometimes I wondered—seriously wondered—what would happen if I ignored the calls. I never acted on it though, and that night when the phone rang, I still didn't.

"Hello, Mouri Detective Agency, how may I help you…" I muttered groggily into the phone and let out a yawn. I already knew who it was.

"Ran-chan; sorry to wake you up. Would your father happen to be awake?"

I sighed and sat down on the couch, which was the closest thing to me at that moment. "No, keibu—people typically aren't awake at two in the morning," I told him. "But I can certainly wake him up for you if you need him for something." I could hear other officers chattering away in the background, and from what I could pick, it was your typical robbery/murder case. It must have been a difficult one if Megure had resorted to calling my dad.

"I'd greatly appreciate it," he replied. "Could you tell him we need him down at the new jewelry store that just opened up in town?"

"Will do, sir," I yawned. The chattering had gotten notably louder, and I blinked a couple times, confused, when I heard a familiar voice in the crowd. "Keibu, is that Shinichi?"

I could hear Megure stutter a bit, and he was hesitant as well—like he didn't want me to know or something. "Yeah, Kudo's here too," he finally spat. "I'll explain everything later okay? Just get your dad down here, please."

I finally complied, and I decided that I was going to go with him, whether he liked it or not. "All right, sir—good bye."

After hanging up, I had rushed up to dad's room where he slept and immediately began to shake him. I started out gently, simply gripping his shoulders and jerking him back and forth, but it progressively got more violent, as if by instinct. It wasn't a problem though—after all, he couldn't get mad at me if it was an _emergency_. (That excuse always worked.)

"Come on dad, they need you," I prodded. "Wake up!"

No movement, not even an inch.

"Daaaaaddd!"

I almost slapped him in all my anxiety, but he finally began to stir. I saw his eyes open in the moonlight, and he moved his hands to rub them. For a while he just stared at me, utterly dumbfounded, but eventually he became conscious enough to ask me, "Why in the world are you up at _two_ something in the morning—and more importantly, what the hell did you wake _me_ up for?"

A smile curled my lips as I flicked on the light, making it shine directly in his eyes. "They need you," I repeated. "Down at the new jewelry store in town."

He looked like he was about to pounce on me for making him go blind for that few moments, but what I said seemed to distract him. "The new jewelry store?" he asked disbelievingly. "But they just opened not too long ago! Was there already a robbery?"

I nodded. "Apparently—and a murder too."

Dad sighed. "How sick," he remarked. "I'd better get down there."

"I'm coming too," I informed him. I made it clear that I wasn't asking, and he knew that if he didn't take me, I'd find another way down there. It wasn't hard to see that I clearly inherited his stubborn determination.

"Fine, fine, just don't get in the way," he glared. Quickly he grabbed another shirt out of his closet and changed into it, just to look a little more presentable, and before I knew it we were on our way. The car ride there, however, was not as pleasant as I'd hoped.

"Are they interviewing the suspects?"

"Uhm…I dunno…"

"How many officers were there?"

"It sounded like there were a lot…"

"How many suspects are there?"

"Uh…"

"Come on, don't you know anything!"

I finally glared at him, frustrated. "No, I _don't_ dad, would you just save it for the suspects? Jeez!"

Honestly, how the hell did he expect me to know all that? It was like thought I was right _there_ or something when everything was happening. I had only been told so much, and I was probably half-asleep for most of the conversation with Megure-keibu. Hell, for all I know, I could've_ imagined_ Shinichi's voice when I was on the phone.

Dad finally simmered down and the two of us arrived at the scene; Dad, in somewhat proper clothes with a coat, appropriate for the coldness that was outside, and me, in my lovely, not-so-warm pajamas that I didn't bother to change out of.

Not surprisingly, the first thing I noticed was Shinichi. Yes, he was there; I hadn't imagined him, though I couldn't help noticing something. Something out of whack. There was something different about him that night…you could see it in his eyes. His beautiful, cool blue eyes were illuminated by a glowing fire; a fire of determination, one glowing so brightly I could barely stand to look at him.

Not that I would've been able to anyway; he was surrounded by officers, and I figured it was just him being his regular arrogant self, solving the case like he always did—but somehow, the conversation between them had lent itself to something completely different.

"I don't _get_ it, keibu!" Shinichi exclaimed. "Why in hell's name are you treating me like some suspect just because ONE witness said the killer's face looked like mine? Since when do you put so much stock in ONE eye-witness account, huh? Tell me _that_!"

"Damn it Kudo, it was _more_ than just that!" Megure looked like he was finally getting fed up. "You're sitting here, out in the middle of the night doing god _knows_ what, sneaking around in the dark, acting obscure and suspicious in the right time and place, and you didn't think that I'd give you a second glance? Puh-lease! What kind of inspector do you think I am!"

Shinichi glared. "I already_ told_ you why I was out here, and being that I've helped you on _many_ cases _just_ like this one, I thought I might've earned some trust!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, what I was seeing. Even dad didn't dare to talk, and neither did the other officers. I didn't want to either, but it was like my mouth had a mind of its own. It wouldn't let me stand there and stare anymore.

"Uhm…what…what's going on?"

They both turned to the two of us, and Shinichi ran over to me immediately. "Ran! What are you doing here?" he asked. He looked happy to see me, but I still had trouble making eye contact. It was like my mind convinced me that if I had looked at him even once—even just a glance, just one slight _pinch_ of attention given to him—something bad would happen.

"Megure called my dad," I answered meekly. "I thought I heard your voice in the background so I decided to tag along and watch you in action like I always used to…"

To be honest, I was kind of scared. The notion of Shinichi being a suspect wouldn't come together for me. Why was this happening? Megure wasn't stupid. He should've known that Shinichi wouldn't hurt a soul…how could he? He built up so much of a reputation for himself as a budding detective—it wouldn't have made sense for him to ruin it just like that. I wasn't Sherlock Holmes or anything, but I could still tell them that much!

"Kogoro, Ran…" Megure had followed Shinichi. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

We both gave him blank looks, and Shinichi had grabbed my hand.

"You care to fill me in on what's going on here, keibu?" Dad asked. Megure just sighed, and it seemed that his attention had been completely diverted. Shinichi used the opportunity and pulled me aside out of the moonlight, away from the officers and all the riff-raff. I'd been a tad surprised, but the initial shock went away pretty quickly when his soothing voice reached my ears.

"Thanks for being here…" were the first words to come out of his mouth.

I nodded. "Of course, but…why is everyone being so…so…"

"Untrusting? Irrational? _Stupid?_"

I gulped. It was around then that I decided I didn't like Shinichi angry. "I…I guess so," I hiccupped. I could feel sweat drops rolling down my face, and though the night was cold, I was feeling warmer with each passing minute.

"Don't worry about it," he said, his voice amazingly calm, "I'll handle everything. Just take this, okay? If they see me with it, it'll just make things even harder for me."

I saw his outstretched hand and reached out, grabbing the object that was on it; it was a necklace. I couldn't believe it. It was a gorgeous red crescent moon necklace, dangling off of what looked like pure silver (though I could never tell). A gasp escaped my mouth. "Shinichi! You don't mean—you can't be—?"

Shinichi covered my mouth hastily. "Shh! Come on, Ran, I _know_ you know me better than that," he said softly. "I got this for you last week, and I finally was going to give it to you tonight but all _this_ happened. If they see it in my possession, they'll think I took it from that store. Just keep it and don't say a word, okay?" He moved his hand away when he realized I was struggling for air. "Let me handle _every_thing. Don't say anything—don't give me any looks—just don't do anything that might give them more reason to think I did it. Okay?"

I nodded. "O…okay."

"Promise?"

I faltered a bit.

"Ran!"

"I promise, I promise!" My breaths were heavy now, and I was drenched in sweat. Shinichi simply smiled at me; it was a gentle smile, and he wrapped his arms around me to calm me down.

"Good," he chirped. "And remember—don't worry. I'll be back."

Famous last words, weren't they?

With that, he ran back to Megure and the others before they could notice him gone. It wasn't until then—until I had shone the red moon necklace up into the moonlight—that I realized that the red matched the fire in his eyes.

It was a gorgeous fire, but if this was the grief it caused to get it…if there was this much suffering involved…I could only hope to god that I would never see it again.

* * *

_**A/N:** And that, as they say, is that :D I'm actually very proud of this plunnie, so I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_Also, I have a surprise for you guys! I was telling **Candyland** about how my plans for the _Family Portrait_ story had completely been changed by the time I was done with it, and I told her about how I originally planned the ending to be. She was the only one I told and she liked it so much she demanded it as an **omake**. So here it is! A little extra scene for that story for all of you, as per request. A mini-epilogue if you will ;) Enjoy!_

* * *

Shinichi waited anxiously; in fact, he'd never been so anxious in his whole life. At least not for another person. 

Of course, said person was Ran, so it was only expected that he be worried for her. They had been stupid and crossed the line by quite a bit—and the worst part was, they never even caught Sonoko. She had disappeared somewhere; though they knew that she couldn't avoid them forever.

Finally, Ran had made her appearance, walking calmly out of the Yoshida household. He had offered to go in with her; to explain what happened. After all, Shinichi was good at making things up on-the-spot. But she had refused to let him.

"Well?"

He looked at her expectantly and he had noticed that she hadn't even looked at him once she had come out. Ran blinked, finally sparing him a passing glance as she shuffled her feet. "Well what?" she replied innocently.

Shinichi slapped his forehead in frustration, letting out a sigh. "What did she say? What happened?"

Ran laughed lightly and slowly, and a smirk played on her lips. "Oh…" she smiled. "That."

He continued to stare, determined to get an explanation.

"Well, let's just say we were lucky that Mitsuhiko's parents were there to take her home after we left," she explained.

The tantei chuckled, and decided that he was completely fine with not knowing any more details. "That bad, huh?"

She nodded, and there was silence. Cold, uneasy silence.

"I still get my favor, right?" Shinichi questioned. "I _told_ you that you'd owe me."

Ran raised an eyebrow and it took her a few moments to remember that he _had_ demanded that he get something in return. She sighed; how desperate had she been, anyway? Ran wasn't one to go back on her word though.

"What do you want?" Ran asked softly. She just knew that she was going to regret this in some shape or form. Shinichi would make sure of it. His gaze had shifted towards the awful picture Sonoko had taken, and he smirked.

It was an evil smirk that all criminals had come to fear, and Ran had learned to fear it too.

"So, you know those two children in our 'family portrait'…?"

And Ran turned red…whether it was from anger or embarrassment however, Shinichi couldn't tell—and he wasn't so sure he wanted to stick around and find out.


	12. Out of Bounds

**Title:** Out of Bounds  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #14—guardian angel  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** He was warned, but he didn't listen…

_12/40_

* * *

A lot of things had changed about Kudo Shinichi since he'd shrunken—but it was safe to say that his love for soccer was certainly not one of them. It hadn't wilted at all, and in fact the ability to play soccer at his elementary school with his friends was probably one of the few things keeping him sane. That, and Dr. Agasa's nifty inventions—including his shoes, which put a real _kick_ in his step, to say the least.

Either way though, Shinichi was never truly _normal_ per se; but this way he was at least 'sane' enough to blend in. And that's all that really mattered for the moment, aside from getting back to his normal abnormal self.

"Ran-neechan, are you ready yet?"

Conan knocked on the door of the bathroom for the second time in five minutes. He was anxious to get on the field for their game that day, just like he always was when he was Shinichi, and he was surprised Ran hadn't picked up on the similar habits and mannerisms, but he figured he would just be grateful for it.

"Conan, would you _please_ be patient? My goodness!" Ran emerged out of the bathroom in a light red sweater and dark blue jeans, hair washed, dried and brushed, and smelling like roses. "It's _rude_ to rush a gal out of the bathroom you know."

The little boy flushed a tinge of red and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry," he said meekly. "Just excited, that's all."

Ran sighed and pet him with a chuckle. "I know, I know," she replied. After making sure Conan knew she hadn't actually been angry, she took her set of keys and opened the front door, ready to head out. She watched Conan as he grabbed his soccer ball and enthusiastically power-walked to the door, tugging on her sleeve as he passed her.

"Let's go!"

And with that they were off, with Ran struggling to keep Conan from disappearing right into the crowds and getting too far ahead, and with Conan, straining to quicken their pace even more. Luckily it wasn't long before Mitsuhiko found them, riding safely in his mother's car with the other Shounen Tantei.

"Hi, Ran-neechan!" Mitsuhiko called as they pulled over next to them.

The two stopped dead, and the boy's mother just giggled. "Do you guys need a ride?"

Conan and Ran looked to each other and finally they turned and nodded. "We'd love one," they concurred. "Thank you!"

They got into the car bound for Teitan Elementary, and, with the exception of Conan (for obvious reasons) and Ai, everyone was singing the songs that were playing on the radio. Perhaps it was the beautiful weather, or the fact that they were all confident that they would win the game, but they were all happy that day—even Ai—and of course, beginning the game in high spirits was always a good thing.

The children met up with the rest of their team and right before Ran went to take her seat in the stands, she gave quick Conan a kiss on the cheek. "For good luck," she explained with a grin; which prompted furious blushing from Conan, a death glare from Ayumi, and a mild stare from Ai. "See you later!"

"Where's your dad?" Conan asked, as Ran had turned away to leave and seek out a good seat.

"He'll be here a bit later." She turned around and began to walk backwards as she told him, after which she turned around again and walked her normal pace towards the stands, looking for the Shounen Tanteis' parents. They had found excellent seats that were the third row up from the field, which made for a great view of the game, and she sat and cheered with them. Ran had never truly been terribly interested in soccer, but she loved to watch Shinichi play, and something about Conan made her enjoy watching him as well.

Her eyes had been fixated on the ball, and she watched it danced across the field from one player to the next, to the next, to the next. She was quickly distracted by a gnawing hunger from her stomach, and after asking Mr. and Mrs. Yoshida and the others if they were interested in food or drinks, she finally decided to get a little something to eat.

She got a wonderful, clear view of the field as she walked passed the far left end of the field, near the opposing team's goalie, to get to the concession stands. It wasn't her favorite food in the world—American-style hot dogs, hamburgers, fries—but she was hungry enough to eat it, and so she was going to. She smiled, getting slightly sidetracked by seeing Conan with the ball, approaching the opposing goal. Looking on excitedly, she stopped, observing him as he maneuvered his way around the other players, and…

What?

Conan's hand had briefly touched the side of his shoes—it was only for a moment, but she definitely noticed…and suddenly, he pulled his leg back to kick. He pulled it back far, and his head turned, his eyes meeting hers.

"Ran!" she heard him exclaim; and he had kicked the ball, full force. It was amazing; a kick like she'd never seen before from a normal elementary school kid, and her eyes had once again been fixed on the ball. Odd though, how the ball kept increasing in size…getting bigger…

And bigger…

And bigger…

_What are you, stupid? Get out of the way!_ A voice in her head yelled at her—but it was too late. The force of impact made her black out, and the last thing she remembered was hearing her name being yelled, and something about 'out of bounds'…

**X-X-X**

"I told him. I _told_ him not to use the shoes. But did he listen? No, of course not. That's _just_ like him…"

Ran heard a sigh as she slowly became conscious again. Without even opening her eyes she could tell she was in a bed of some sort; she could feel a blanket over her, and she also noticed something on it when she turned over and tried to pull it. She took a glance and saw that it was little Conan, still in his soccer uniform and seemingly sound asleep. He had pulled up a chair to the bed and sat in it, while resting his head comfortably on the bed.

"Ran?"

Another familiar voice reached her ears. She turned around and sat up with a sigh, her head still throbbing as she tried to remember what exactly had happened. "Hi, Dr. Agasa," she greeted the old man meekly. Her gaze had gone right through him to the window behind him, and she noticed that the sun was setting. "Whoa…what time is it?"

Dr. Agasa took a peek at his watch with a yawn. "Almost six, my dear," he informed her. "You've been in the health room of Teitan Elementary for a couple hours now, but they say you're free to leave whenever you feel better. No serious harm done." He grinned and Ran simply looked dumbfounded, her memory still failing her. She glanced over to Conan, wondering whether or not she should wake him up, and she heard Dr. Agasa chuckle.

"He's been sleeping there since you were put on the bed," he remarked. "Like a little angel watching over you. He's quite fond of you, you know…"

Ran blushed a little bit and giggled. "Heh, really? I've never noticed," she replied; a complete lie and the doc knew it.

Conan began to stir, and he yawned as he lifted his head up from the bed. Seeing that Ran was awake immediately put a smile on his face and prompted him to hug her. "Ran-neechan, you're okay!" he exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, it was all my fault…"

She blinked, looking slightly scared. "I'm sorry—wh…who are you?"

The little boy's eyes widened in disbelief. Had she…I mean, had she _really_…? Not again! "No! Ran-neechan, tell me you know who I am! Please!" Conan shook her violently, and playful laughter escaped her mouth.

"Just kidding," she grinned. "Geez…"

Conan breathed a sigh of relief, which only led to more laughter from Ran. "Come on, you silly goof; let's go home." She pet him on the head lightly, and at that signal, Dr. Agasa immediately moved towards the door. Conan just smirked at her, slightly surprised that he actually fell for that the way he did, and he simply hopped of the bed, helping Ran off after him.

"Yeah. Let's."

* * *

_**A/N:** And thus we have number 12 completed. :) I actually had a variety of ideas for this theme, so hopefully I'll be able to take the other ideas and manifest them into the challenge somehow under another theme. I hope everyone is enjoying the stories so far, and thanks for all the reviews that give me the incentive to keep writing! Much love, and until next time!_


	13. Within a Thousand Words

**Title:** Within a Thousand Words  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #21—seeking for you  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** In memory of Elle. Within each set of a thousand words, he could find her…

_13's my favorite number. "Unlucky"—tch!_

* * *

Waiting was never easy—especially not for the busybody, must-be-doing-something-every-second Kudo Shinichi.

He never sat idly; even when there was seemingly nothing to do, he always had to find something to amuse himself with, whether it was a book or his Gameboy, or even something simple, like a pen and a piece of paper to write or doodle on. If there was nothing there, then it simply meant that he would search until something happened. In short: Shinichi couldn't sit still.

And such was his fate one muggy Saturday morning, when he awoke to the bright nine o' clock sun shining brightly outside—and he quickly realized he was alone. For a few moments he was confused. He'd had the morning planned out in his head, and he certainly did not recall oversleeping as part of it; thus, he was not very happy.

Ran had been gone for a week—a vacation with Sonoko and her crazy family—but that day, she was to come back home. He had talked it out with Kogoro even: the two of them were to retrieve her from the airport together. Of course the louse had most likely_ conveniently_ forgotten to wake up him; he wouldn't have put it past him. Looking at his watch, he wondered if he could've made it to the airport in time on his solar-powered skateboard, or by taxi. He quickly dismissed the idea as a bad one.

He wandered downstairs, where he found a ready-made breakfast waiting for him—the "ready-made" breakfast consisting of no more than cereal, milk, and a bowl of fresh strawberries. Staring, he simply shook his head. _Well, at least he didn't try to cook_, the tantei laughed to himself; and it was then that he finally remembered he was hungry.

There had been two places set up at the table, two breakfasts. He assumed the second one was for Ran as a welcome-home token, and so he left it alone as he ate the other breakfast. It didn't take him long to finish, and before he knew it, he had run out of things to do once more. He had been hoping that the two Mouris would have returned by that point, but sadly, the house remained silent.

Sighing, he made his way back upstairs, where he intended to find something in his room to amuse himself with, however, he got distracted when he saw Ran's room. Ran's room, which for some reason had looked particularly inviting that day. He wasn't sure if it was the closed door or the fact that he'd never been in her room before, but he suddenly had an urge to go inside for the first time.

Trespassing through someone's room was not exactly Shinichi's style, but nevertheless, he found himself opening the door and walking in. The curiosity was too much.

"I'm going to hell for this," he warned himself; but he didn't stop.

Not only had he gone in, but he had started going through her things; her drawers, her closet, under her bed…in fact, he did not stop until he came across something that caught his attention. An album of some sorts—and it even had a title.

_Where in the World is Ran?_

Curious, he opened the album and began to flip through it. He had every intention of making sure that she would have no idea he had been in the room, however the album had simply been too attention-grabbing. As he looked through the pictures—all of them from Ran's childhood—he began to understand why the title was so appropriate.

It took quite some effort to find Ran in the pictures. She never looked at the camera, and she always stayed as far away from the camera as physically possible, giving the illusion that she was in the background. Whenever she was forced into the picture, she was always scowling, ready to pounce on the cameraman at any moment.

It was then that Shinichi remembered: Ran never considered herself a photogenic person.

She had a whole phase where she absolutely abhorred cameras, and with each turn of a page, he was reminded of how she had always tried to hide behind him. He had fun looking for the instances of Ran in the album, and even when she was barely visible, he could always see her. More often than not, she was the first thing he noticed in every picture.

In the pictures from her fifth birthday party—the first one he had ever attended.

In the pictures from their field trip to the museum in fifth grade.

In the pictures from their end-of-the-year trip to the pool in seventh grade.

In the pictures of her first sleepover, which Shinichi had the pleasure of hearing about in excruciating detail the next morning.

In each set of a thousand words…

With every turn of the page, there was another memory, or two or four or five. He continued to turn the pages and found her each time, refusing to move on until he did—and with the final page turn, he saw it.

The picture.

The one picture that made him wonder: if a picture was worth a thousand words, then why was he so speechless?

It was a beautiful sight, almost beautiful as Ran herself: the first picture thus far in which Ran was actually looking at the camera—smiling. And everyone knew that special quality that smiles had; that contagious air that forced you to smile whenever you saw someone else smile, whether you liked it or felt happy or not. So he smiled, and for the first time, it felt genuine. He wasn't being forced, and he wasn't acting…he was just happy.

It was a picture that he took of her himself for Photography class that year, at the park near Teitan High—and she was happy that day too.

"That's the first time I ever had my picture taken willingly, you know," a voice suddenly chimed. "Well…that I remember, anyway. It was my first year of high school…first time I ever remember smiling for the camera, too."

The little detective had jumped nearly a mile and turned around in haste to see Ran, arms folded with her lips curled into the shape of a smirk. She had a teasing look on her face, but he noticed that she wasn't angry. Not at all.

"Ran-neechan!" he exclaimed, still slightly alarmed. "Welcome home! I…didn't hear you come in…"

"I know," Ran giggled. She walked over to him and began to look over his shoulder. "What were you doing anyway? Were you looking for something?"

Conan shut the book and set it aside without a word. He stood up, a smirk now on his face, and he shook his head as he made his way to the door. His foot was already half way out of the room when he turned around to face her with a confident smile.

"Nah. I already found it."

* * *

_**A/N: **Whew! It's been a while; things got a litttlee hectic there towards the end of my school year…but, I'm DONE! n.n It's summer and I'm HAPPY, so I get to continue with my fics again. This was originally supposed to be written for the one-month anniversary of Elle's death last month on the 19th, but, it never got done…so I guess you could consider it a 2-month anniversary tribute instead. Lol, till next time. See ya!_


	14. Second Best

**Title:** Second Best  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #2—I'm willing to sacrifice anything, just for you  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** He'd never seen Ran so worked up over a grade before…

_Fourteen. _

* * *

It was a quiet night at the Detective Agency; Mouri Kogoro was out on a case again, however, Ran had been forced to opt out of it this time.

Between studying for huge Chemistry test and dealing with new projects that got assigned, she didn't exactly have time to tag along anymore, as much as she enjoyed it. She had even set up a study time with Shinichi—she had sworn she wouldn't procrastinate on studying again—however he had blown it off.

And once that happened of course, the DVD of life had magically "skipped" to the night before the test; 11:25pm, to be exact, and putting it shortly: she was pretty much doomed.

Ran had the study packets; there were just so many questions, she didn't have the time. She sighed, spacing out to the vision of the phone in front of her.

The phone…how could the phone have helped her?

She could've called Shinichi, she supposed—he did have the same class and could probably help—however he was probably out on the same case her father was. And besides; she wanted to prove to herself that she could do this with_out_ his help for once. That she could earn a better grade than him on her own; that he wasn't better than her at absolutely _everything_.

She picked the receiver up in the end, and the numbers on the phone stared back at her. _Might as well_, she told herself; and sighed. _The things I do when I'm desperate… _

The phone rang again and again, and just when she was about to give up, he had picked up. "Ran?" he asked.

"Yeah, hey," she replied. "What took you so long?"

"Couldn't find the phone—sorry." Shinichi let out a sigh. "What's up? Wait let me guess…" Before Ran could even open her mouth to answer him, his ability to read Ran like an open book had kicked in. Sometimes, she _hated_ that. "You've completely left off studying for our big Chem test tomorrow, and now you need help on the problems in the study packet?"

"I didn't put it off!" she argued in response to the teasing. "It was _you_ who cancelled on our study session!"

The tantei just snickered. "So, what, you don't know how to study independently?"

Ran growled, absolutely resisting the urge to slam the phone on him right then and there and be done with it. Shinichi simply laughed, and things between them grew library-silent for a while as Ran tried to cool herself down.

"Look," Shinichi's voice of reason then chimed in, "it's a little late now, wouldn't you say? I think at this point it'd be best if you just got some sleep."

She remained quiet, grabbing her throbbing head in frustration. "I'm not tired," she replied curtly.

"You _sound_ exhausted."

"You're wrong!"

Heavy breathing; silence. Shinichi raised an eyebrow slightly; he had never heard Ran get so angry over a simple grade before.

"Relax," he urged. "Jeez. You're so worked up…what's wrong?"

"Nothing! Nothing is _wrong_!" she exclaimed; which made Shinichi hold the phone away from his ear a little. "I'm just…"

Shinichi blinked, waiting patiently for the rest of her sentence, and he gave it a full minute and a half before he finally accepted the fact that she wasn't going to finish it. He didn't want to pressure her, and so he gave a few more moments of awkward silence before finally muttering… "You're just…what?"

"Tired…"

Of relying on him.

Of needing his help.

Of him always getting the higher score.

Of being second best…

Shinichi smirked slightly, amused at the fact that Ran had contradicted herself. Not knowing what to say, he kept quiet, not wanting to risk saying anything that would set her off.

"You wouldn't get it," she finally told him.

And she couldn't have been more right.

He listened to her breathe for a while, and she did the same; she imagined him, laying down on his comfortable couch in his living room, his chest rising and falling. He imagined her, walking around frantically as her heavy breathing suggested she was doing; and finally, he exhaled slowly, sighing. "You know…if it means so much to you, I…"

Ran's ears perked up, relieved that he finally said something to ease the tension between them, although she was still in a sour mood.

"You what?"

"…I can help you study. You know, help you in figuring out some of the study questions or something. I don't know."

Ran blinked for a minute, as if taking a moment to register what he was saying. She then rolled her eyes, managing a light "_tch_" before muttering softly, "Weren't you the one who just said I should get some sleep?"

Shinichi shrugged. "Well, you weren't planning on doing that anyway, were you?"

"No…"

"Exactly," he said matter-of-factly. "Then I might as well just help you out."

There was yet another pause. Ran wanted to object; she wanted to refuse his help outright, but the words got caught in her throat every time she went to talk. She had to find some reason—any reason at all to get out of it. She _had_ to do this on her own. "But…what about you? You need sleep too…" she pointed out.

"Nah, it's all right. I'm willing to lose one night's sleep, if it's to help you—I can handle it. The main thing is if _you're_ willing, but it's not a problem for me. After all, it's for a worthy cause."

Ran raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "A worthy cause?" she repeated. "Why? What do you stand to gain from helping me study? Credit, if I _do_ happen to do well? Gloating privileges?"

Shinichi blinked "…I was thinking more along the lines of 'a happy friend who doesn't want to kill me,' but okay…"

And she fell silent yet again, guilt tugging and nibbling at her relentlessly. She had sounded so accusing, so aggressive that she was blinded from the sincerity that was so obvious in his intentions. It had almost felt like time had stopped, as she sat there wondering how to respond to him.

"Ran? Are you still there?"

She stared at the Chemistry packet, the questions staring back at her demanding an answer; most had been studied way too far back for her to remember, which she needed to review, and there were some topics she just simply never understood.

"Ran?"

A sigh escaped her lips. "Section One: Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures…"

Shinichi simply smirked upon hearing the words. "Wait, wait, wait. Let me go get my packet. Oh, and do me a favor, please?"

Ran narrowed her eyes. "What?"

She heard a dry chuckle over the phone, and she swore she could feel his evil smile. "Don't fall asleep," the tantei responded warningly. "It's going to be a long night…"

Shaking her head with a devil's smile of her own, she waited patiently for him to come back to the phone as she stared at the questions they were to tackle together; the ones that he was sacrificing his sleep to help her through.

Perhaps second best wasn't such a bad place to be after all.

* * *

_**A/N: **Another relatively short one. Hmm—and it was pretty impromptu, too, lol. I was working on a completely different idea, and then this made its way out. Heh, go figure. :D Anyway, hope you enjoyed, for any of you still reading along. I'll be going to Thailand tomorrow, but I'll still be able to update—just not as often. I think it'll be nice to get away for a while. _

_Until next time, whenever that may be. _


	15. Puzzle Pieces

**Title: **Puzzle Pieces  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Author: **Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme: **#27—I'm soulless without you  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary: **No matter what, he couldn't tell her directly. But…

_Fifteen!_

* * *

"_She's crying again."_

"_Is she?"_

"_Yes. It's driving me mad."_

"_And I suppose you think telling her once and for all—putting her life in danger, as well as everyone else around you—that would make her feel better?"_

"_Well, you know I doubt lying to her is helping any…"_

"_You know the cliché…what she doesn't know can't—"_

"_Don't even finish that sentence!"_

"_Look. I've already told you, Kudo-kun. You can't tell her, not directly. Not…verbally…"_

"_Wait, **what**? What do you mean by that?"_

"_You're a detective, aren't you? I believe that's for you to figure out…"_

_**-x-x-**_

It was an innocent enough question, posed under the light of the waxing gibbous moon.

Ran hadn't even seen it coming; she was simply watching over the Shounen Tantei that night—"watching over" meaning "making sure they shut up enough so that Kogoro won't wake up and kill them," since they had opted to spend the night at the Agency that night—and she had noticed that Conan had looked rather distracted. Her motherly instincts had kicked in, and she just had to prod, despite her own internal I-miss-Shinichi issues she was dealing with.

"Hey, Conan," she greeted him warmly, taking a seat next to him.

"Hey," came the meek reply. The boy was deep in thought—not surprising, since it seemed like that was his natural state of mind, especially after his trip to Dr. Agasa's that morning. _You can't tell her, not directly. Not…verbally. _The words rang again and again in his head. Haibara had always been staunchly against revealing their secret; that had always been clear and it remained constant, as she discussed the possible consequences more than once.

So what were those words supposed to mean? Conan thought about it; it was too risky to tell her—Haibara had made that more than clear—but if she figured it out…if he simply gave her all the puzzle pieces for her to put together without actually doing it _for _her …

"Conan?"

He glanced over to her, a curious look on his face as he quickly realized they were alone. The Shounen Tantei had disappeared into the kitchen, probably on a search for more ice-cream. It was nearing midnight, and they were determined to stay up as long as possible. "Hmm?" Conan's reply finally made it out of his mouth.

"Don't you want to go play with the others?" she asked. "You seem…distant today. Penny for your thoughts?"

Conan paused for a moment, thinking of how to respond. Suddenly a smile came to his face. "Sorry, Ran, but my thoughts are worth a little more than a penny," he told her—leaving out the "-neechan." The opportunity rose for puzzle piece number one: a case of déjà vu. He wondered if she would notice…

_**-x-x-**_

"_Come on, Shinichi, let me read it. You've been quiet all day! What's wrong?"_

_Kudo Shinichi, twelve years old, held his notebook protectively from the ever-persistent Ran. He had simply been deep in thought—about something he read, in one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's magnificent works—and he had simply used the notebook as a means of organizing his ideas. Ran, however, had been convinced that something was bothering him._

"_Nothing's wrong, I told you," Shinichi replied. "Besides—don't you think my thoughts are worth a little more than a penny?"_

_Ran sighed. She made a mental note to herself to be more careful with her words next time—"penny for your thoughts" could be taken way too literally. _

_**-x-x-**_

"Ran-neechan?"

The memory of why she had never used those words dawned on her in a flash, and silently she wondered why she had even said it again, thinking of Conan's—and Shinichi's—response. _It's just a coincidence_, Ran repeated to herself. _I mean, it's not like _only_ Shinichi can use the line, right? He's not…_

"Ran-neechan, are you okay? You should really take care of yourself before you worry about me." Conan prodded her lightly in an attempt to shake her back to reality. Suddenly, she turned to him, faking a smile like nothing was bothering her in the world; like she felt as light as a feather, bearing no weight at all on her shoulders.

"It's okay, Conan," she said, grabbing his hand. "I'm all right. Are you?"

Conan nodded slowly, his gaze lifting towards the window and towards the stars. "Yeah," he replied. "I was just…pondering this question that I had. It's nothing."

"Well, maybe I can answer it," Ran offered. "What is it?"

And then, after a long pause, it came. Completely out of the blue, at random, and utterly unexpected, particularly from an eight-year-old.

"Ran-neechan, what's a soul mate?"

Ran took a few moments to process the words, making sure that she was hearing him right. She simply laughed—he was so cute, looking so serious. "Soul mate?" she repeated with a giggle. "Conan, you're _way_ too young to be worrying about soul mates. Why do you ask? What happened?"

Piece number two: direct connection to Shinichi.

"Nothing," he replied. "Actually, Shinichi was wondering, and it got me curious too."

She thought for a while; since Conan had taken the effort to ask, he deserved an answer, though Ran wondered how Shinichi had suddenly gotten tied into all this. "A soul mate," she said again thoughtfully, as if it would help her answer the question. "I guess I haven't really thought about it either. It's one of those things that means something a little different to each person, you know?"

Conan nodded. "I figured as much," he softly muttered, and looked up to her with curious eyes. "So what's it mean to you?"

Another pause, as Ran stared into space trying to find her answer. "It's not exactly an…easy question to answer," she replied. She bit back her initial urge to keep her reply as simple as "Shinichi"; Conan deserved a better answer than that. Besides, the answer was too personal. "Maybe…someone…who makes you feel complete."

Conan didn't say a word, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Someone who your soul can't live without," she continued, not even sure if her words were making sense. "I want to say 'someone you'd die without,' but…it seems too simple." Ran put a hand to her chin, wondering what to say next to explain herself.

"So what if something happens to your soul mate? Like, if he dies, or he leaves for a really, really long time?" Conan prodded. "Is he still your soul mate?"

"Yes," came the confident reply. "Because even if you're not together physically, your souls still are, in a sense. It's hard to explain, because even if he or she is dead…I mean, you need a soul to be alive, but you don't need to be alive to have a soul." Ran went over her words in her head, almost confusing herself. Conan probably thought she was crazy.

"So if your soul mate's _soul _dies, only _then_ will yours die too?" he blinked.

"Exactly."

Conan scratched his head. "How do you know when a person's _soul_ dies, as opposed to just the body? That's confusing," he decided.

"I know," Ran laughed. "It's not really something you can explain. That's why you shouldn't worry about it. You should wait, and experience it for yourself when you're older." She pet him on the head with a smile, ruffling his hair. "Okay, kiddo?"

He looked unsure, but nodded. "Okay. But Ran-neechan?"

"Yeah?"

He turned to face her. "Is it possible for two people to have the same soul mate?" he asked. "Like, say, Shinichi and I?"

Piece number three: using the impossible to his advantage.

"No," Ran giggled. "I don't think it's possible, especially with your guys' age difference. Everyone has his or her own soul mate; it's just a matter of finding the person. Not always an easy task for everyone."

Conan fell silent, considering her response a bit before finally speaking up again. "I think we do have the same soul mate," he replied with confidence; a confidence Shinichi wasn't even sure he'd ever displayed before, even as himself. "I think it's very possible."

She simply smiled at his naivety, rolling her eyes a bit. If he was already so sure, he needn't have bothered coming to her. "And what makes you say that?" Ran asked. She decided he deserved a chance to explain himself before she brushed him off completely.

"Because," he answered, standing up now with a smile. "Maybe we have the same soul."

Ran narrowed her eyes at him; there was suspicion there, but more confusion. "What do you mean by that?" she asked him.

Conan simply laughed now, letting his inner child take over once more. "Never mind Ran-neechan. Forget I said anything." Seeing Haibara and the others reenter from the kitchen, ice-cream in hand, he moved to join them. "You'll see one day."

He was done, and he did the best he could; he gave her all the puzzle pieces, at least the ones he could find. Worrying wasn't going to do him any good, he decided, and he wasn't going to do it any more. He glanced back just long enough to see Ran smile, and he decided that he was going to let things happen at their own pace, including getting back to his own body, and telling Ran. Rushing wasn't going to help anything—which, he now realized, was something Haibara probably understood all along.

"You didn't tell her, did you?" she suddenly asked, after he finally joined the other children. The others were busy, being distracted by Genta's "magic" antics (making ice-cream "disappear.") Conan shook his head with a smile as he watched them, but she could tell he was still listening.

"No," he replied. "Not really. She's got more than enough capability to figure it out on her own. I don't need to say anything else to rush it."

She nodded in approval, as if relieved that he finally understood. "Good."

"I'm just happy now," Conan added with a cheeky grin.

"Happy?" Sometimes Haibara doubted she even knew the meaning of the word.

"Yeah," he repeated. "Just look at her. At least she's smiling again." Conan threw his head back a little, trying to motion towards Ran without drawing attention towards them, and Haibara turned her head to see her. Ran saw her and waved, smiling, and for once, the girl waved back—with a smile all her own.

* * *

_**A/N: **Yay, number fifteen! Making lots of progress with these two, so I'm pretty happy with that. I decided to have some Conan-Ai interaction in there too, just 'cause I felt like I needed to make up for my lack of updating my Friends challenge for them xD (that, and it worked really nicely in the story.) _

_Anyways, I'm off again. Woohoo for the scalding hot weather in Thailand! x.x (cough)NOT(cough) See ya :D_


	16. At the Beginning

**Title: **At the Beginning  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Author: **Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme: **#34—it's hard not to love you  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary: **There was a reason Ran and Shinichi could never stay mad at each other.

_Life is a road, and I wanna keep going…_

* * *

It was a chain reaction, and believe it or not, it was Shinichi that most often started it. Every single time, without fail, their fights were the same.

First: Shinichi would say something. Anything; something offensive, something insensitive, something to sound like a _guy_. Often, but admittedly not always, unintentional. Perhaps it was something flirtatious, to another girl; some cheesy pick-up line (or so Ran considered it to be) that only Shinichi would think of. "I'm not jealous!" Ran would claim, upon accusation, "I'm just protecting other girls from flirty, insensitive 'it's-all-about-me' guys like _you_!"

Sometimes he'd even say something she considered insulting, about a certain way she was, or about an aspect of her that he just couldn't understand. Like when she would cry over one of the murder cases that happened to get particularly emotional. "Not everyone can be so _numb_ to their emotions like _you_!" she'd defend herself.

Whatever it was that he said though, the end result was the same: a vicious verbal fight that only concluded when Ran, in an attempt to quell her violent tendencies, would leave the fight in a rage. To go home; to cook, watch TV, read—anything to _forget_. Shinichi would then go home the opposite way—the long way—to avoid her, and do the same. Watch a soccer game, _play _a soccer game, re-read a Sherlock Holmes book…anything.

Then, they wouldn't touch, see, hear, or communicate with each other in any way shape or form until the next morning, when they would "kiss and make up," as the saying goes…minus the lip-action.

They'd forget anything ever happened, and it was all rainbows and butterflies again until of course, the cycle would repeat itself. (Which wouldn't happen for a while, as their fights were, for the most part, few and far apart.)

That night, though.

That night, that night…what _was_ it about that night?

Their fail-safe chain reaction had been cut short. By what, they didn't know, but both had found themselves utterly unable to forget the other, like they always tried to when they got into these arguments. _Some_thing had gotten in the way; it had trapped their memories of each other inside their heads, and no matter how hard they tried to force them out, the trap _held_, like the third little pig's brick walls against the breaths of the Big Bad Wolf. To put the cherry on top, they couldn't even stay angry at each other.

It was _annoying_, to say the least, and made it impossible to keep things in the past…like the hurt they felt, like the pain they made each other go through, and most importantly…the _feeling_. The magnet-like attraction. The…shh, don't tell! …_love_. Knowing their luck, though, that was probably the very thing that had set the trap…

And fate couldn't have picked a more perfect night, too.

Ran had a karate match—which, she might've added, Shinichi was supposed to come see.

Shinichi had been called on (again) to help with a murder case, which he agreed to do in _lieu_ of said karate match, since Ran was probably the last person he wanted to see right now…or at least that's what he tried to tell himself.

And with the mental distractions, the two just _knew_ that the night would be simply _fabulous_.

Not.

Both of them had to walk that night. It was the only way to get anywhere without a driver's license or a ride, and fate just had to fiddle with the puppet strings that it had on the two of them until they _saw_ each other. Shinichi noticed her first, but they both had made eye contact with each other. After a brief moment though, both pulled away, walking past each other in uncomfortable silence.

_There she goes_, Shinichi thought, walking by her. _With that confident kick in her step, her karate suit slung over her shoulder…she thinks she's going to win tonight. And she's probably right. _He glanced back in her direction, and though he didn't tell them to, his feet stopped. His eyes began to gaze for her in the crowd.

_There he goes…_ Ran smirked, stopping. She had convinced herself that it was because she had seen something she wanted in the store window to her right, but she knew that it was really because of Shinichi. _With that million-dollar smile on his face, his observation notebook clutched in his hands…he thinks he's such a great detective. And he's probably right._

The two stood firmly in place, and people continued to walk by them without a care, penetrating their distance. The crowd began to dissipate, and it soon became evident that there _wasn't_ much space between them at all. They had imagined it all, and as they began to realize it, they both began to walk forward again, glancing backwards.

Shinichi shook his head. _If she thinks I'm going to turn around, she's got another thing coming. I mean, _really_. Just because she's walking that walk; that "I'm the victim, he's the one who needs to apologize" walk—_

Ran's steps began to slow down, unknowingly, as she held her head high. _He thinks I'm going to turn around. Ugh! I mean, _seriously_. Just because he's walking that walk; that "I'm right, you're wrong, deal with it" walk—_

_That doesn't mean I'm going to—_

_I'm definitely not going to—_

_Turn around!_

The two of them had whirled around to face each other before they even knew it. It was too hard to resist; it wasn't _their_ fault. Each had hoped that there would be enough of a crowd between them to camouflage into, before the other realized it—but both were sorely disappointed. They stood there in the biting cold, practically alone, facing each other; you would've almost thought the whole thing was choreographed, with how perfect the timing was.

"Ran," Shinichi greeted coldly with a nod; there was no avoiding her anymore, and he knew it.

"Shinichi." Ran returned the gesture haughtily, throwing some locks of her hair back behind her shoulders. They walked towards each other, slowly, and stopped standing side by side while facing opposite directions.

"Going my way?" Shinichi asked, with a slight tease in his voice.

Ran responded with a slight sarcastic giggle, followed by the most sardonic smile she could manage. "Nope."

Shinichi's eyebrows raised slightly, and even though he was normally very good at reading Ran like an open book, he hadn't quite seen that coming. He simply chuckled though, and surprise never even made it into his facial expression. "Good," he spat, sounding as cocky as he could.

"Well, okay then."

"All right."

"Uh-huh."

"Good!"

_What are we, five?_ Shinichi pondered with a silent laugh. Neither party said a thing, and the night grew silent. People were disappearing, going home to their comfy-cozy homes, and as Ran thought about that, she remembered that she herself had somewhere to be, too. She began to walk ahead, and Shinichi stared; the sway in her hips, the way her hair billowed in the wind. It was that walk again.

But it stopped.

"Are you gonna come watch me fight, or are we gonna keep acting like five-year-olds?" Ran suddenly turned around and folded her arms, watching for his reaction. Almost immediately, he went to join her and the two were walking side by side once again, and for the first time since that afternoon, they both felt whole.

"Thought you'd never ask." Shinichi smiled confidently in relief. "So does this finally end our fight?"

Ran shrugged; there was no denying that she was happy their fight was finally showing some closure, but she was still slightly disappointed that she had to be the one to cave in and stop it. Normally she would've made him apologize, but that night…she didn't know. Maybe it was the moon.

At her lack of response, Shinichi only searched harder to stir up conversation. They were finally on speaking terms again, and he was going to take advantage of it if it killed him. "Man…what was the fight even about?" he scratched his head, faking ignorance.

"You," Ran replied. "And your need to show off to every single girl you see."

Shinichi folded his arms, his eyes rolling. "I was not showing off to that girl, _or_ flirting for that matter," he defended himself—again. He prayed to god that it wouldn't escalate this time, though it seemed that the cycle was beginning again. They'd gone around that circle once, but it seemed that they had taken extra steps, and they were back where they started, and still going…

"Yeah, like you would know!" Ran answered, with sarcasm. Yet again, the two had stopped and were now facing each other. "You were flirting so much the other girls were getting jealous!"

"You're so exaggerating!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

The tantei opened his mouth again to give his oh-so-mature rebuttal, but before he could throw in another "Are too!", his cell phone began to ring. Startled, it took him a few moments to react, but his hand eventually made it into his coat pocket to grab the darned thing that wouldn't shut up; he looked at the number and…this time, an ounce of surprise made it into his expression. One brief second, before he pushed 'ignore' on his phone and quickly pocketed it again.

Ran raised an eyebrow, and it seemed like he was watching his every move. "Who was that?" she asked.

"Must you know everything about my life?" Shinichi snapped; though he regretted it immediately afterwards once he realized how harsh he'd sounded. He gulped. He'd said the words sort of fast…maybe she didn't hear.

No, she did. Definitely. She turned around, and…

"Ran? Sorry…I didn't…I mean, that wasn't…"

"I know." Ran suddenly smiled, interrupting him. She _almost_ cried. Almost. But she'd heard the word she'd been waiting for, and that was all she wanted. "I'm sorry too. For everything."

Shinichi smiled too. "I guess Kazuha and Heiji aren't the only two who can argue," he joked. Ran giggled a bit to feign amusement. Again, they began to walk; a little faster now, since Ran was running low on time to get to her match.

"They make up almost as fast as we do," she remarked.

"Almost," Shinichi emphasized.

His cell phone rang again; Ran had almost forgotten. He had never answered the question. "Who _is_ that?" she asked the question again.

"No one." Shinichi had to pull out the phone once more to silence it, but it went right back into his pocket as soon as he was done. "Just…Megure-keibu," he added meekly. He was going to get an earful for skipping out on the case, but…well, he'd just have to deal.

"Shinichi!" Ran folded her arms, utterly surprised. "That's horrible! You should pick it up!"

He just shrugged innocently. "He already hung up. Nothing I can do."

Ran raised an eyebrow, with a don't-gimme-that-bullshit expression on her face. "Call him back," she demanded; at this point, she was ignoring the fact that she was already five minutes late for her karate match.

"No way! Come on, I wanna watch you kick ass." Shinichi nudged her forward, but she only responded by reaching into his pocket—violently, he might've added—and grabbing his cell phone. It happened in the blink of an eye, and he couldn't even stop her.

"Call him back," she repeated. She knew full well that the police needed him.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No…!"

And they froze, the light breeze chilling them over and making their mouths ice shut…they were right back where they started for the third time now; right at the beginning, with each other, and yet strangely…neither could think of another place they'd rather be.

* * *

_**A/N: **Whoo! Thought I'd never get another one written XP Hehe. It's been a bit crazy here, with me having been without internet access for a while, and dealing with stupid stomach problems, but I think I'm back on track. Except…now I have summer work to worry about. x.x Curse you teachers, making things due in the MIDDLE of the summer! Email…feh! _

_(cough) Uh…till next time! Ciao!_


	17. Master of Disguise

**Title: **Master of Disguise  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Author: **Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme: **#36—Don't worry, I'll always be by your side  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary: **Here's a hint…it isn't KID.

_Lucky number seven…teen. :P_

* * *

Did you know?

There is a master of disguise who lurks in the moonlight, hidden from the world. If you look closely, you might be even be lucky enough to see his silhouette amongst the shadows of Beika.

Do you recognize who it is?

I'll give you a hint. It's not KID. I'll give the kaitou the props he deserves; after all, he is the only person who's ever had me—and Nakamori's police team—on the run for this long. But it's not him. Because this master—this "he"—is really a she.

A she, who thinks she can hide from the person who knows her the best; the only person besides her parents that has known her and has always been right by her side since before she can even remember. But as of today, she has failed. I finally found her out. It took a while; she was good. Even my eagle-eyes didn't spot it at first. But she's definitely the one—the one who could deceive so many people without even meaning to, feign innocence and get away with it.

Mouri Ran.

It might sound shocking at first. More often than not I can read people like books, and I pick up on things like this—especially in a person I've known for so long. But they say no matter how well you may think you know a book, every time you reread it, you begin to pick up more details; ones that you didn't necessarily catch the first, second, or even the third time of reading. And I guess that's exactly what I'm doing.

I'm rereading. Every time I look at her, in fact; even tonight. The more I read, the more the little details begin to click together like a big puzzle.

Ran is in hiding.

_From what? _you might ask; and you can. However, before you do, I'll tell you right here and now that it's not an answer that I can give—for I am not Ran's author. I am merely an overseer. But I can tell you what I _do_ know.

Like what she hides behind.

Of course, you've probably figured out that when I say "hiding," I don't necessarily mean in the physical sense. She hides behind masks; she hides who she is. In fact, she has so many and wears them so much, it's hard to tell when she's not wearing one. I think she herself even gets confused. She has a different mask for almost every occasion, and it's like Halloween all year round—only no one can see her costumes.

For her father, she's the _daddy's girl_…cooking for daddy, taking care of Conan for daddy (back in the days of my…ahem… "condition"), coming home on time for daddy, cleaning for daddy…making daddy proud. Some of you might say that, well, that _is_ her in a nutshell…but there's more that you might not know.

For her friends, she's the _mother hen_…always caring, always making sure that everything is all right. "Sonoko, have you done your homework yet?" "Sonoko, don't forget, your mother told you…" "Sonoko, don't do that! You might get hurt!" "Sonoko, be careful!" "I _told_ you, Sonoko…"

Now, before that you say she's a pushover, you should check her out in a karate match. She's the adversary; the tough opponent, the champion everyone wants to beat. She's the enemy, and ruthless to boot. It's her protective side; a mask she puts on occasionally for defense, even outside karate.

And for me?

Hypothetically speaking, I'd probably call her…well, the _girlfriend_. No, technically, she doesn't hold that title. Yet. But it fits her magically well. Even when I get off on an obsessive tangent about Sherlock Holmes, or mysteries, or soccer, or anything really, she's always right there. She's always listening, and even if she could care _less_ about how wonderful Sherlock Holmes is, or how crafty some serial killer is and how his plan was _so _clever…she listens anyway, and she knows exactly how to tell me to stop.

She also cares for me. Obvious, I know, since being a friend _is_ part of being a girlfriend—but she _really _cares. "Shinichi, where are you?" "Shinichi, I miss you…" "Shinichi, when are you coming home?" I hear it in her voice, I see it in her eyes, I feel it in the entire essence of her being. It's obvious to me--and this is only from outside observation.

This is why I call her a master of disguise. Because of her masks, you can ask five different people the question "Who is Ran?" and you'll get five different answers. On the other hand, maybe it's normal for there to be five different answers to the same question. After all, we've all been brought up to believe that the answers to questions aren't always right or wrong.

But then how do _I _answer the question? Knowing what I know, how do I capture everything I just said about Ran into one short response that's not completely vague?

It's a feat not even I can accomplish.

To know who Ran is, the person has to see for himself, or he'll never know. He has to put himself in her author's shoes, like I have, and look on—read closely, like I have, and find his own answers. It may sound a bit like stalking, but I assure you, it's just the way I operate. I'm an observer by nature; I listen and pay attention to things around me, and excruciating detail is my specialty.

"Shinichi?"

A hand waves in front of my face excitedly, and it doesn't take me long to realize that the person it's attached to is trying to get my attention. I look to Ran and smile innocently, although her angered look tells me that she's probably been trying to get my attention for a while.

"Geez, we're supposed to be studying here." She folds her arms. "Pay attention, would you? Need I remind you, the final exam is _tomorrow_."

I nod and give her an apology, knowing full well that yes, we do need to concentrate. A small chuckle escapes my lips, though unnoticed by Ran, as I hoped it would be. Even now, she wears a mask.

Now that I've told you what I know, can you tell which one it is?

Or maybe she's not wearing one at all; maybe this _is_ Ran.

Or maybe she's wearing two masks—or three or four.

Can you tell?

I can.

Don't look at me—that won't help. No matter what mask or costume she's wearing, I'm always right beside her, so I'm not the hint—that difference—you're looking for. And I won't give you the answer, either; I refuse to give any spoilers.

If you _really _want to know…then just read the book for yourself.

She's worth it.

* * *

_**A/N:** Another little idea that was based off a thing we did in Theatre. Kind of short, but sweet, in my opinion. n.n Hehe, and it kind of wrote itself, which is always nice. I also thought it'd be kind of interesting to have some Shinichi-audience interaction for a change._

_Thanks for reading, and till next time. The half-way point is fast approaching :3_


	18. A Foretelling Dream

**Title:** A Foretelling Dream  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #30—it hurt to see you cry  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Shinichi always hated to be the bearer of bad news.

_A dream is a wish your heart makes . . ._

* * *

Ran wandered, slowly, down a path surrounded by nothing but pure, lush green. Grass, she presumed it was, looking down at her feet, but it was _so_ green she almost wasn't sure.

Green, as far as the eye could see, though she noticed that it was tainted with specks of red. Dabs of red that, upon closer inspection, turned out to be roses—full grown ones, and beautiful, too. Strange though; she always thought roses grew in bushes, not in open fields like this one. And last time she checked in Biology class, she was pretty sure roses had thorns.

Something wasn't right.

The roses were red, the grass was green, but something was _still_ wrong with the scene. She could feel it. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

Her gaze wandered upwards, towards the sky. Where _was_ she, anyway? It wasn't a place she'd been to before, she knew that much. She would've remembered a place like this. A person with _amnesia_ would've remembered a place like _this_. It was the same everywhere she looked; cloudless blue skies, beautiful plant life and—the latest she noticed—no one in sight. She was alone.

The thought scared her a moment, at least at first. She didn't like to be alone. Nevertheless, though, she pressed on, determined to find someone. Anyone.

"Dad?" she called, first. The wind had swallowed her voice, competing against it with its howl, but she didn't even realize it. "Mom? Sonoko? Conan?"

She gulped.

_Shinichi?_

She knew the name was bound to come up in her head sooner or later. She wasn't surprised. No, she was anything but surprised.

"You look lost, Ran."

Suddenly, she froze, as if the voice had paralyzed her. Ran didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

"Shinichi!" she exclaimed with a turn. She threw her arms around him. It had seemed like so long since she last saw him; felt him, hugged him. "What . . . what are you doing here? How? Where _is _here anyway?" Ran looked around, frantically, before meeting her eyes with his again. His beautiful, blue eyes that matched with the sky.

He simply smiled. His hands moved to pluck out a rose from the rich soil, and as he traced the thorn-less stem with his fingers, he walked behind her. But she didn't turn around.

"Don't you know?" he asked. "Don't you recognize it? This place . . ." Shinichi was near. So near, so close, closer than he'd ever been. She could feel his breath against her neck, and in her ear, as he sighed in a near whisper . . . "You created this place."

Ran's blood began to settle at her cheeks, and her body temperature rose. Her heartbeat increased tenfold, and she jerked around with a sweat, feeling the awkwardness building. "I did _what_?" she murmured disbelievingly.

Shinichi nodded to reassure her. "You did. Ran . . ." He put the rose in her hand, and as her fingers began to close on it, his did as well. They bore the weight of the rose together. It was just like old times. "We're in your mind."

Her eyes grew wide; her legs weakened, her knees began to give out before she even heard what he said. Ran wouldn't believe it. "My mind?" she repeated in bewilderment. The dreamy scenery, the reunion with her best friend . . . it was all in her head? Shinichi nodded again, with a smile this time as he loosened her grip on her hand.

"That's why I'm here," he explained. "That's why these roses don't have thorns. That's why this place is in broad daylight . . . you never liked the night, did you?"

Ran shook her head. He always knew her so well, sometimes so well that it scared her.

"Exactly," Shinichi said matter-of-factly. "It's perfect, and you love it. That's why I picked this place." Nodding in his own approval of their setting, he looked all about. He looked to his side, he looked at the scenery, he looked up, he looked down. He looked everywhere . . .

Everywhere except at her.

"Picked this place . . . for what?" Ran's voice quivered. She admitted it: she was afraid of the answer. And the somber look on Shinichi's face wasn't helping.

"To tell you, of course."

"Tell me _what_?" she had to ask, continuing to prod him.

There was a pause after that, which made Ran uneasy. She already didn't like where all this was all going, and when Shinichi hesitated, choking up his next words, she knew her feelings were justified.

"I'm sorry, Ran, but . . . I didn't make it."

He still didn't make eye contact with her.

Her emotions became a spiral of confusion, helplessness, and fear; it felt like his words stopped time. No matter how many times they echoed in her head, she still couldn't make sense of them. "Didn't make it?" Ran repeated. "Wait . . ."

"I wanted to be the one to tell you," he murmured. "I didn't want you to hear it from my parents, or the doctors."

It was then that the memories were beginning to come back to her. Memories from her real life, outside of this subconscious world. She wasn't stupid. It took her a while, but she was finally beginning to figure it out. This wasn't real . . . this wasn't her life, her life wasn't this perfect. This was . . .

_A dream._ Ran frowned upon the realization.

She remembered—remembered, that Shinichi had finally come back to her; she knew, and she even remembered the time. Four o'clock in the morning. She remembered blood. A lot of it, and she remembered confusion, as she called for an ambulance. Yes, she remembered everything.

Shinichi was in the hospital.

So why was she there? She needed to get out, to see him . . . the real Shinichi. Make sure he was okay. She needed to get away, needed something to wake her up from this nightmare . . .

"I have to go . . ."

"No, Ran,_ stop_! Don't you get what I told you?" He grabbed her arm, just knowing that she was going to try to get away from him. "It's too late. You _know_ it is. You saw the blood—you didn't think they'd actually be able to save me, did you? I know for a fact that you're not that naïve."

She froze in place. Seeing him in that condition, she had to admit, she was doubtful. She didn't want to admit it—that she had doubts he was going to live—but she knew.

"I'm already gone, Ran. I just came to tell you . . . and give you a proper good-bye."

"No . . ."

The words made her shiver. They had seemed so harsh, but true, and she barely managed to say a thing in response. Only occasional mutterings of "why?", "I don't believe it," "it's not fair," and other variations of the sort. She could only stare at him through her sparkling wet eyes, and she felt her knees give in as she finally fell onto them, against grass and flowers, which she watered with tears. She was near his feet now, and any onlooker would've thought she was begging him for something.

Then again—maybe she was.

A comforting hand met her shoulder.

She knew that he didn't like it when she cried; she tried to hold back. _Don't cry_, he always said._ If you cry, I can't see your eyes._ It always made her smile at least a little, ever since they were children. This time though, there was good reason to cry.

He hated it; she'd cried enough tears for him, he thought, and it bothered him that even after he died, he could still make her cry. But this time, he felt she really deserved to. And he let her . . . only, their time together grew short. She stared at him again, and Shinichi only smiled at her.

"Well?" Shinichi held his arms open with a grin. "Our time's running out you know. You're going to wake up soon. Are you just going to sit there, checking me out, or are you going to give me a hug good-bye?"

Ran didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She sprung to her feet again, meeting Shinichi's azure eyes, which, she noticed, sparkled as well, and for a moment, she wondered if he cried too. The moment was short-lived though, and she soon threw her arms around him, her wet cheeks snuggling against the tan jacket he wore. "Shinichi . . ." she muttered in a cracked voice.

_I loved you._

She felt herself being pulled away; something was happening in the real world, she knew it. There was a ringing in her ears, and by the second it became more and more distracting.

"I loved you too, Ran," Shinichi replied. It was as if he could read her thoughts, now that he was not confined to his earthly form. "See you when I see you."

Their lips, acting as magnets, drew closer to each other, and . . .

Ran saw him disappear, with the scenery. The ringing she heard began to get louder and louder, and, unfortunately for her, more annoying. Everything was now black, and she saw nothing—as was typical for anyone whose eyes were closed.

She was awake again.

Her cell phone, laying on her nightstand next to her, rang hatefully, begging for attention. Ran's shaking hand grabbed it from its resting place, and her heart began to race as she looked at the number that appeared on the screen.

_Kudo Shinichi (House)_

Wiping at her eyes, which she only just noticed were still wet, she pushed a button on the phone. "Hello?" she half-yawned. She almost sounded scared; it seemed her voice was still shaky, and her throat was somewhat sore.

"Ran, honey?" Kudo Yukiko's trembling voice came over the phone. She had definitely been crying . . . and knowing exactly why, Ran didn't blame her in the least. "I think you need to sit down . . ."

_fin_

* * *

**OMAKE:  
**_Lady in Red_

The funeral.

Kudo Shinichi, still known as the Great Detective of the East, was cremated.

Ran knew it would come eventually; she wasn't sure if she could handle it at first, but it was surprisingly easier than she thought. It was a nice gathering of those who really loved—_love_—Shinichi, and it was somewhat comforting to talk to everyone.

Heiji and Kazuha also made an appearance of course. In fact, Kogoro personally offered up the Detective Agency as a place they could stay for the funeral, so they could stay and rest up for a night before returning home. Sonoko's limousine was in the process of dropping them off there upon the cremation's end, when Kazuha asked a burning question.

"Hey, Ran? Why did you decide to wear red to the funeral?"

Broken from her trance, Ran looked at her, just barely making her face out in the moonlight. She looked down at her dress, a lovely sparkling red, and then smiled. It was a valid question, but coming up with an exact answer was the hard part.

"Because . . ." Ran began, with great uncertainty in her voice, "I guess I wanted to be remembered, as that lady in red at Shinichi's funeral . . . and . . ."

There was a pause.

"And what?" Kazuha prodded. Ran looked thoughtful.

She thought about Shinichi; about that night, at Tropical Land when he'd left her and had disappeared. About Edogawa Conan, about his friend Haibara Ai, and particularly about that mysterious news article about the fall of some evil black syndicate that appeared in the papers after Kudo Shinichi's miraculous return—and Conan's return to his parents.

"And . . . I don't think Shinichi would've wanted me to wear black today."

* * *

_**A/N: **(nods) Yup. This plunnie took FOR. EVER. It kept going everywhere, changing, adding to itself, and ugh. Just not one of the more cooperative ones. My first angst for this challenge though, I suppose, and my first death too. :) I tried my best to keep the challenge funny and cute, but with a theme like "it hurt to see you cry," it was kind of difficult. _

_I was happy, I even managed to pull off the cliché piss-off-the-fans almost-kiss scene, lol._

_Hope you liked it, and this is my last post before I head back home to the states, so, wish me a safe flight back home! n.n_


	19. Desperation

**Title:** Desperation  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #9—when all hope is lost  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Conan-kun, what_ are_ you doing?

_Cheers for #19!_

* * *

Edogawa Conan had a new toy. Or at least, that's how it seemed that day, when Ran found him up in his room.

_Oh, god. I can't believe I did this. _

It was odd. He'd come home from school on his own, walked in and up to his room, and she hadn't even noticed. Either he didn't want her to, or she was just too absorbed in the book she was reading. (Sherlock Holmes—she swore she'd curse Shinichi one day for getting her hooked.) Or, it was some combination of both—which she didn't doubt either.

_Two times in a week—I'll never hear the end of it! You would think they would have gadgets for something like this…_

She didn't really understand why, and when she'd walked up to his room, he barely gave her the time of day. Was the new toy that wonderful? She had to wonder, as she opened his door to observe him. He had his back turned, so she couldn't see what he was fiddling with, but she was sure that he'd been at it since he got home.

_Definitely can't tell them. They'll murder me!_

"Conan?"

Ran knocked lightly three times to get his attention, and safe to say, it worked. He'd jumped nearly a mile, biting his tongue to hold back a surprised yelp, and then turn to face her, breathing, panting. Heavily, Ran might've added. All of that struck her as odd. She barely saw Conan in such a state, and though she had to admit, part of her was amused at his inner child's temporary takeover of his body.

"Ran-neechan!" he breathed, a hand over his chest. "You scared me."

The object in question that had been in Conan's hand was oh so cleverly slipped under his blanket. Ran wasn't sure she felt comfortable with Conan trying to hide some sort of secret—already, at his age!—but she let it slide and pretended not to notice.

_Oh god, I have to get her out before she notices._

"Yeah, I noticed that," Ran said in a laugh. "You sure seem jumpy today. What's wrong? And hey, where are your—?"

"Nothing's wrong!" Conan interrupted, maybe a little too enthusiastically. "Nothing at all! What would make you say that?"

Ran responded with a raised eyebrow. "Because you're acting odd," she answered honestly. "And plus, you didn't even say hi to me or anything when you got in today. No 'how are you,' no telling me about your day, no anything."

Conan began tapping his fingers, his eyes wandering—a nervous habit. Blinking a couple times, he tried his best to keep his focus. "Sorry about that," he replied finally. "I uh…didn't mean to. I was just um…I…uh, there's a new episode of my favorite show on! And, I wanted to hurry so I didn't miss the beginning of it." The not-boy nodded, seeming proud of his excuse.

"…but the TV isn't on," Ran observed, looking to her blackened reflection on the television in his room. Suspicion rose.

"Um…I was just getting to that!" Conan exclaimed. His finger quickly made its way over to the power button to push it, and luckily, the show that was on was one he recognized. "See? It's Yaiba! Ayumi-chan told me that it'd be a new episode, so she told me to watch it."

His eyes became glued to the TV, though his mind was paying attention to anything but it, and Ran simply sighed as she shook her head. Whatever it was he was up to, she decided she'd deal with it later. She trusted him, after all. "Well, you know where to find me if you need me…I guess," Ran muttered unsurely. She took her leave, shutting the door behind her, and Conan sighed in relief.

_Too close. She can't know about it. Absolutely not. All she would want to do is help, and I'm going to do this on my own if it kills me._

Ran ventured downstairs, and she continued to read her book which she had inadvertently left open to check on Conan. Her eyes began to get heavy however, and, deciding that she needed a break, she began to wash the day's dishes. Her father, having previously been out on a case, walked in just then, and greeted his daughter with the usual.

"Hey, Ran—dinner ready yet?" Tossing an empty beer can into the recycling bin, he almost seemed drunk, but Ran could tell that he actually wasn't. For one thing, he didn't reek of beer, and for another, his entire face wasn't beat red.

"No, not yet, dad," she answered him calmly, putting another glass onto the rack.

He looked disappointed, but not angry. With a stretch and a yawn, the cop-turned-detective felt his eyes getting heavy all of the sudden. "Okay," he replied. "I'm too bushed to eat now anyway. I'm gonna take a nap…say, where's the runt?"

Looking around, he finally realized that he hadn't seen head or tail of his supposed good-luck charm, who normally greeted him upon his return.

"Up in his room." Ran shook her head. She wiped her hands off on the small towel hanging off of the cabinet to dry off after she finished, and she turned to meet her father's eyes. "He's been up there since he got back from school. I've got no idea what he's up to. Just leave him alone."

Kogoro shrugged. "Fine by me," he agreed with a nod. "Maybe he'll actually stay out of my hair today."

With that, he exited the room, probably to take his place on the couch and sleep Ran occupied herself with some more little chores before starting dinner. She'd lost track of time quickly, not even realizing that it was already six o'clock in the evening by the time she finished the meal, and she set the table for three spaces. Taking mental note that Conan still hadn't come down from his room since that afternoon, she woke up her dad; it was a chore sometimes, but not that day. (He was probably hungrier than he was sleepy.)

"Dinner's on the table," she informed him. "I'm gonna go get Conan."

Kogoro nodded in understanding, groggily making his way over to the table, as Ran darted up the stairs. Conan's room door was still closed, and looked like just how she left it.

"Conan!" she called, as she hovered her hand in a fist, about to knock the door. "Dinner's rea—!"

Just then, the door swung open; it happened so fast that it almost seemed like Conan had been waiting there for her to knock. He looked relatively frustrated, and she noticed that he looked somewhat tired and…desperate. He gave a hopeless sigh, worrying Ran.

_This is not fair—I am NOT a handy-man who can fix anything and everything. Ugh. I just give up._

"Conan? What…what's wrong?"

There it was again; Ran's motherliness. Without a word, Conan scratched his head, holding his hand out in front of her with a certain object in it—the one he'd been slaving over, she presumed. He couldn't even make eye contact with her.

"Ran-neechan," he murmured, hesitation in his voice. "…can you please fix my glasses for me?"

* * *

_**A/N:** So, I have this Conan doll. I got it from an anime convention, I believe it was Anime USA in Virginia, and somehow, while I was in Thailand, his plastic glasses broke, right in the middle. It just snapped; and now there's tape there to hold it together. Lol. And that's basically where this comes from._

_Hope you at least smiled. Ciao!_


	20. Trust Between Two

**Title:** Trust Between Two  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #29—I will never hurt you  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Come on, now. Don't you trust me not to hurt you?

_HALFWAY HALFWAY HALFWAY! (jumps up and down)_

* * *

Walking up to the building, Ran could already see Shinichi in its shining, glowing-gold windows. Even through the mask, she could see that it was clearly him. He was brandishing a weapon—a sword, a rapier—and masterfully wielded it against his opponent, who, admittedly, she could not quite recognize. The weapons were sharp, and the similar masks and outfits almost made it hard to tell everyone apart.

Shinichi was fencing.

Or rather, learning to. The place wasn't far from his house; or hers for that matter. In fact, it was probably exactly half-way in between them, which was, thankfully, convenient for her when Shinichi asked her to meet him after his lessons for a late-night movie.

Ran had perched herself outside the door, waiting for the class to wrap up. According to her watch—which read 7:58pm—it should've been just about time for them to start putting away their equipment and high-tailing it out of there. Leaning against the wall, she stared out in front of her with a yawn. She saw no one there; only a single solitary tree that stood out in the streetlight.

She was bored, waiting there, detached, and yet at the very same time, she seemed fascinated with the whole scene. Every mark, every piece of bark, every curve on the tree, every falling leaf, every glitter in the night sky—

She was spacing out.

And all of the sudden, she noticed a silhouette behind her; she could see it wavering in the moonlight, perfectly, though it wasn't clear enough to tell anything about the person. No details, barely any head shape…just shadow. She felt an arm wrap around her; just one arm, yet it paralyzed her whole body, and the once warm, pleasant night suddenly became a biting, frosty cold…

Or perhaps it wasn't the night, but rather the object she felt against her neck. A sharp, burning cold chill…a knife? Sword? She couldn't tell.

She didn't panic. She was a karate champion—she could defend herself, thank you! But she couldn't panic. No sudden movements…utmost care…everything she learned came back to her.

"Hi, Ran."

The voice didn't register in her head—only the words. Ran felt the sharp object slowly shying, inching away from her neck, and the arm loosening the grip on her body. Within seconds of hearing opportunity knock, her dominant hand instinctively shot upward and almost _immediately_ flew down again in a lightning-fast chop as she whirled around to face the man (woman?) She only felt wind though; there was no physical contact. The person had dodged. And now that she thought about it—the voice, and, now the face—she recognized him.

Yes, indeed, it was a him. Well…sort of.

"_Shinichi!_"

The motion censors, probably triggered by Ran's sudden movements, had illuminated lights right outside the building, and she had quickly snapped into reality. She saw the tantei there, laughing a bit at the scare he'd given her, and he touched his lips briefly to his rapier sword—the one he'd just used—with a light peck. "I love this thing," he purred, a smug grin on his face; and he began to trace the blade with his finger.

"Ass," Ran grumbled; she gave him a good smack over the head, but of course, it didn't hurt him. "You scared me half to death."

"Tch." Shinichi rolled his eyes with a smirk, which turned into a slight chuckle. "Come on, Ran…" He grabbed his sword once more, holding it out against her neck again with a devious smile on his face. "You don't really think I'd hurt you, do you?"

Immediately with an exasperated sigh she pushed it away, making sure her long sleeves protected her delicate skin from the sharp blade, and she rolled her eyes. "Stop it," she demanded in a huff. Her eyes gazed over him in a toppling glare. "Why did you decide to take fencing lessons anyway? You're already like, a freaking soccer _god_, aren't you? What else do you want?"

Shinichi only laughed; the attitude was amusing at best, and though Ran admittedly could be scary some times, this was not one of them. "Well, soccer's great and all," he mused, "but other than giving you ultra-powerful legs, it doesn't really help with self-defense." Shrugging, he began to walk, embarking on the path towards the movie theater, and he hoped Ran would follow his lead. "I figure since you have your karate, Hattori has his kendo, and Kazuha has her aikido, I should have something too. And what better for a Holmes fan than fencing?"

Following closely behind him, Ran only rolled her eyes. Yes, that was right—Sherlock Holmes fenced, too. "So it was because of Holmes," she concluded, almost disappointedly. "I should've known."

"It wasn't _all_ because of Holmes," Shinichi replied in defense. "And besides…there's one more thing I want."

At that, Ran could only fold her arms, feeling the growing frustration. As if he wasn't spoiled enough as he was! Someday, she swore she would make him choke on his own perfection. "And what would that be, mystery geek?"

His voice was eerie, lingering in the thickness of the chilly air. He had slowed down, letting Ran pass him and he went up to her, practically whispering in her ear.

"_Your trust_."

Suddenly she felt the cold blade against her neck again. The paralyzing wrap of his arm…Ran tried her best to wiggle her way out and quickly pushed him away. "Stop! Put that thing away, or I'll break it myself." She folded her arms. "In case you couldn't figure it out detective, I don't like swords at my neck. And you're not planning on taking that into the movies, are you?"

Shinichi only smirked. He hadn't even thought of the movies. "I guess I'd better not," he decided. "But that means we'll have to take a detour to my house for me to put it away."

"Fine. As long as you keep that thing away from me." There was a moment's pause, as Ran thought, and finally she added: "Actually, just give it to me."

"What? No!" Shinichi jerked the sword away from her protectively in protest.

"Give it to me!"

Ran stopped, holding her hand out demandingly, but Shinichi continued to put up a fight. The weapon was his, after all! Avoiding all of Ran's attempts to obtain it, he simply stared at her in all her annoyance and aggravation.

"Come on," the tantei argued. "Don't you trust me not to hurt you?"

Shinichi felt Ran slowing down, and even what he had said—and the way he'd said it—had made her stop and think. Her breathing was heavy; you could tell by her beating chest, though you couldn't actually hear the breathing very well. Not that Shinichi was _staring_ at her chest or anything. Of course not. He just happened to notice these things…and when he did, he knew he had won.

"Fine," came the final word from Ran that declared Shinichi's victory. Or so he thought. The tone was grumpy; dissatisfied, glazed with a juust tint of _I-really-hate-you_, and things went deadly silent for a while. Even the night crickets, it seemed, had stopped. It was only them. Walking, footsteps clacking in time with each other, until finally, they reached Shinichi's house.

"Well?" The detective walked past a halted Ran, who still bore the grumped look on her face. "Are you coming in, or are you going to stand out here in the bitter cold?"

"Hmpth."

She followed him in, not quite by choice, as he informed her assuredly, "This'll only take a second." He then did a quick disappearing act upstairs, using the magic little devices called feet, supposedly to put away his weapon. And in Shinichi's definition of a second, Ran had the time to tour through his entire ground floor, realizing how long it'd been since she last saw his house.

So much had changed, yet certain things—particularly in the closet—had remained in the same place.

Seeing some of these things, to her surprise, actually gave her an idea—one which she debated, but carried through in the end. And when Shinichi came walking down those stairs oh-so-innocently, he never saw what was coming.

He saw a foot. Ran's foot, in front of him. Was she wearing _black_? But before he could even do anything about it, he'd already tripped over it and fallen. Face-first. And Ran did not look eager to help him.

Instead, she lowered her head to meet his, and she yanked at his hair lightly, making his head tilt upwards to face her. She showed him something—a pill, one that looked freakishly familiar. Too familiar for his liking. And the black get-up she was wearing, and the heat of the moment…everything was hazy for the moment, just like that night. She proceeded to move the pill closer to his mouth, like she was going to…

_No! Never again! I won't go back!_

Shinichi struggled as hard as he could, shaking, feeling his hair ripping out from Ran's vice-grip, and he finally got himself free. He panted like a dog, staring at her wide-eyed. _She must have found the black trench coat in mom's costume closet_, he reasoned. _Right next to the medicine cabinet…_

"Now, Shinichi," Ran grinned widely. "You really didn't think I would make you relive your childhood a _third_ time, now did you? As that little four-eyed, voice-changing bowtie boy?" She could only laugh as she turned away from him. "And here I thought you trusted me."

Shinichi sat up, staring at her in hateful awe, and he folded his arms with a boy-like pout. Blackmail! And in its worst form too: fused with revenge. His clear blue eyes had never shown such fiery red anger. He glared at her, but in the end, could only shake his head.

"Ran, I am _never_ revealing another secret to you, ever again."

* * *

_**A/N:** (sighs) Poor Shin. It's okay sweetie, she still loves you. She's just evil sometimes. _

_Hee, a BOATS fic, majorly, majorly exaggerated. To the max. It was very fun to write, it was perfect for the theme, and in the end, I couldn't have asked for a better half-way point. Thanks for sticking it with me this far, and I hope you come back for the rest of the challenge. n.n _

* * *

At Shinichi's words, Ran only stuck out her tongue…and finally, she tossed the pill at him with near-perfect precision. In his right mind, he could now see that it was pink and white—clearly different from the APTX 4869.

"By the way, it's Tylenol. From _your_ medicine cabinet. Expired a _month_ ago. You really ought to consider cleaning out some of that stuff…"

A awkward pause ensued. And making a disgusted face, Shinichi promptly threw away the pill, deciding that…well, maybe he really _did_ spend too much time away from home.

"Ew."


	21. Trapped

**Title:** Trapped  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #12—your love is suffocating me  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary: **Ran didn't know why she couldn't breathe.

_Mew…_

* * *

In the bitterness of the icy cold, Ran felt completely and utterly stuck. And she had no idea what to do; what to think, how to operate. All she knew was that she was in big trouble, if she didn't do something fast.

How did she always manage to get herself into these things?

She tried not to panic. Having been friends with someone like Kudo Shinichi for that long, she was used to the feeling of being in most kinds of danger you could think of; and they would always make it through together. This time, however, she was alone—and she didn't like that one little bit.

Saving others? Not a problem. Ran was one with quite an altruistic nature, so she had no problems putting herself on the line for her loved ones. Saving herself, however?

She had some doubts.

Already she could feel the panic rising to her throat as she tried to make out her surroundings, but she continuously tried to swallow it down and keep it there. She felt frozen, yet she could still move; hot, yet at the same time cold. Similar to the type of feeling she typically got when she was small and sick, from something like a minor cold, or any deviation thereof.

She flailed her arms, and, they responded as they should have, swaying up and down…only slowly, as if she were submerged in water. It wasn't normal! Not to mention, the length of said arms were much shorter than usual. And her legs…and her fingers. She was…a child? _But how?_ Her hair was shorter too; she could not see it flowing behind her like normal.

She could breathe though…at least, for a little while, she could. She could even hear herself do so.

Her breaths continued to get shorter and shorter however, until finally, no oxygen could get in at all. But _why?_ Was she trapped? In a box? Had there been no more oxygen? Or perhaps she was snared deep, beneath the surface of a semi-frozen lake; one which she stepped on ignorantly, despite the warnings of thin ice. Had she fallen through? Maybe she needed help.

But no one would hear her.

She felt herself choke, coughing, her lungs gripping at any oxygen they could get. No words came out.

_Why can't I breathe?_

Her mind went into a spiral, begging for the answer. It spun, making her feel an overwhelming dizziness, which coupled itself with a crippling headache, induced no doubt by her less-than-desirable predicament. Suddenly, her coughing, which had previously been silent, began to emit sound. It grew exponentially louder; her vision began to fade, and the darkness morphed itself into something more comprehensible.

Her limbs were full-length again; she was eighteen as she should've been. Finally, there was scenery she recognized; blankets, pillows and stuffed animals, the window, the moon shining through it…it was _his_ house.

_A dream?_ she asked herself.

It was still dark, but Ran was finally beginning to realize what was happening. She looked at Shinichi beside her in awe, and she wanted to laugh—but she couldn't. Coughing, she could only manage a smile. No wonder she had felt so trapped.

"Shinichi," she breathed to wake him up.

A slight moan.

"Shinichi."

A bit of movement this time. "Mmm…"

"Shinichi!" Ran repeated coarsely in a cough—a little more sternly this time.

"_What?_" came the annoyed grumpy voice from the awoken detective.

"I can't breathe."

Sighing, Shinichi half-opened his eyes to meet hers—and immediately they widened.

It took him a minute to take in the scene as a whole and realize what he had to do…but he eventually unwrapped his arms from around Ran's ribcage and blushed furiously. They had been wrapped around her tightly, almost protectively, as if she were a teddy bear. It was like a barrier, keeping her safe, and…well, not even oxygen could penetrate.

"Sorry," he murmured.

Ran only giggled, planting a chaste kiss on his forehead to show her forgiveness. She should've seen it all coming.

Her head fell against the pillow again, as she let out a slow sigh, and, smiling, she waited eagerly to be taken off to dreamland once more.

Dating Shinichi was going to be one breath-taking experience…

* * *

_**A/N:** Awwwwwwww, Ran's being BAAADDD! I'M TELLING KOGORO!_

_(cough) Anyway…yay for pointless fluff :D And welcome, **fd**, to the 30 Nights challenge community! n.n She's begun writing the challenge for Heiji and Kazuha, so we finally have the full circle of canon. Check it oouuuttt! W00t:D _

_Till next time. Seeeeeeee ya._


	22. Outside the Window

**Title:** Outside the Window  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #33—I feel peace at night  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Shinichi, do you think snow is romantic?

* * *

It was a cold, stormy night. No thunder or lightning—just relentless snow that blanketed the city in white. Dark shadows played with each other, dancing under starlight. The wind howled at the moon, who responded by beaming rays of light down across Beika, involuntarily making everyone a part of their silent conversation.

Despite Mother Nature's talkativeness however, the night was peaceful. Mouri Ran waited patiently near Shinichi's window for her father, who was to pick her up on his way home from solving yet another case. She made sure to turn all the lights in his living room off to get a clear view of the snow outside, though the precipitation had slowed immensely since that afternoon. You could barely see the miniscule flakes that tumbled slowly to the ground from the sky.

"I don't think it's snowing anymore," Ran noted mournfully. She and Shinichi had spent the entire snowy day together, and were spending their last few moments together simply enjoying the peace of each other's company.

"Sure it is," Shinichi's know-it-all attitude replied. "Don't you see it?"

Ran took another good look outside the window, concentrating. She stood perfectly still, picking one spot and staring avidly at it to see if any whiteness passed through it. "No," she replied honestly. "Actually, I really don't."

Shinichi sighed, taking a glance through the window, and he shrugged. "Well, we _could_ just go stand outside," he suggested. "But since I know you won't want to until the second your dad gets here, I suppose I'll have to show you some other way."

"Be my guest," she said coyly. And Shinichi smirked—was she doubting him?

"There's _always_ a way to tell if it's snowing, even if it's very light," he explained. "Just look at the streetlight over there. See?" Shinichi pointed to the light just a little ways down the street, shining towards them. "You can't see the small snowflakes in the dark without actually standing in it—but if you look at the light, you can just barely see the itty-bitty flakes falling down past it."

Things fell silent, but Shinichi could see her smile. Her glazed eyes seemed to sparkle as the light hit them. "You're right," Ran admitted. "I see it now."

He nodded smugly. "'Course I'm right," he declared. "Doesn't take a detective to see that bit of detail."

Ran rolled her eyes and, in a brief moment of immaturity, stuck her tongue out at him. She ignored him, turning her attention back outside, and decided to remain silent. Sometimes she was surprised at her tolerance for his unrivaled arrogance. But then again, how can you be annoyed at something you've been exposed to your whole life? He'd been that way ever since she could remember, and she wouldn't change it for the world.

"Shinichi, do you think snow is romantic?"

Ran smiled, turning to him; she was slightly surprised at the randomness of her own words, but she didn't really mind it. She was relaxed; open, and she felt like she could tell him anything—or, _almost_ anything.

"Where did that come from?" Shinichi asked, slightly bewildered. Partly because the question came completely out of nowhere—but mostly because for once, he didn't know how to answer.

"I don't know," Ran shrugged. "Just the two of us—just you, me, and the snow—I mean, it's kind of romantic, isn't it?"

Shinichi blinked; the peace, shattered to pieces. His cheeks flushed a tint of red, though it was easy to hide in the dark. "Uhm…"

He remained silent, his brain searching for a correct answer. (Was there one?)

Neither said anything, and finally Ran began to laugh, shaking her head. "Look at you!" she mocked. "A brilliant detective, fumbling for the correct answer to an _opinion_ question." She ruffled his hair a bit, giggling, but her laughter soon died down to a chuckle; and Shinichi was still red. "That's okay. You don't have to answer," she told him to end his misery.

He chuckled with her, relieved that the situation was restored to the boundaries of his comfort zone. Ran again stared into space, and she noticed that the snow was beginning to once again fall at a rapid pace. She seemed mesmerized.

Her thoughts finally turned to her father; it seemed watching the snow evoked a lot of thinking and reflecting. He'd said ten minutes before, and she'd just realized that it had been almost fifteen. She wasn't one to be picky about five measly minutes, but she wanted to be home before the roads got to icy and dangerous. Was it too late, though? What if something had happened? Like, a car accident, or—?

"There he is, that old man," Shinichi announced. He pointed his finger to the headlights that appeared outside the window, illuminating Shinichi's snow-covered front yard.

Ran gathered her things and smiled. "Yeah, he probably just got held up in traffic," she assumed. Walking to the door, she glanced around, making sure she wasn't leaving anything behind. "Thanks for having me over."

"Any time," Shinichi replied. Ran opened the door, letting the cold air blow right in his face. Shivering, he watched her walk to the car.

"Bye," she waved.

"See ya," he called, over the wind as she got farther. He gave a confident smirk, staring at her footsteps trailing behind her, and finally, his azure eyes fell on Ran's hair, blowing towards him. She opened the car door, tossing her things inside and she got into the seat. She slammed the door shut, probably thankful for the heat inside.

Shinichi watched as the car drove away and he simply shook his head with a smile—a chuckle even. He shut the door and took the seat where Ran had been sitting earlier, becoming quite mesmerized with the snow himself.

"Yes," he decided. "Maybe snow _is_ romantic…"

* * *

_**A/N:** Whee! It's about time I got out another Night—and this is doubling as a drabble for wolfcrossbreed (from LJ) as well. I hope you all enjoyed—my little tribute to winter. Oh yeah—did any Spiral fans recognize the reference in the title? (winks)_


	23. Diagnosis

**Title:** Diagnosis  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #24—my heart is bleeding for you  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** There was something very, very wrong with Shinichi.

* * *

The day began with a simple ring from the telephone.

Ran's favorite day of the week, Saturday, always began this way. Shinichi had made it a routine, and she could easily predict it now. His voice was the one she heard from the other end of the line. What she didn't know was that the voice was coming from just the opposite side of the house; from the mouth of a little boy who knew a little too much.

"Shinichi?" she asked upon answering.

Through the bowtie, Conan's lips curled. Smiling, he was glad to be able to speak as himself. "Hey, Ran," he greeted cheerfully. "Just checking in. How are you?"

"I've been all right," Ran replied, nodding a little. "Can't really complain about anything. And yourself? How's that case of yours working out?"

Case?

Oh, right. The case he was supposedly on at the moment. Shinichi had told so many lies now, it was somewhat hard to keep track of them all. "Eh. Haven't gotten anywhere," he murmured. "Last lead I had was a dud."

Ran rolled her eyes, having heard the same kind of things week after week. She wondered why Shinichi was having such trouble with this so-called case. If he hadn't solved it in all the time he'd been gone, she knew it had to have been a difficult one. Shinichi was a pro, an expert, granted though he was only in high school. If the case was truly out of his league, then by now it would've fallen into the hands of the police. And surely it would've been on the news.

So far, there had been nothing.

What was this top-secret case? And why wasn't he telling her anything about it like he did all his other cases?

"I'm sorry," Ran replied, trying to hide the doubt in her mind. "Better luck next time?"

"Yeah, maybe," Shinichi replied hopefully with a sigh.

It was never until he talked to her as Shinichi that he realized how much he wanted his body back. He would temporarily lapse into an alternate universe: what if he had never seen those men in black that day at the amusement park—if they had just gone home together, talk about how much fun they had that day? If he was blatantly ignorant of the Black Organization and what they were doing…what would become of Haibara? His life?

He would never know. But he didn't have time to dwell on it; he needed to get through this case fast, and the sooner he did, the sooner he wouldn't have to wonder.

"You know, I think I've finally figured out what's wrong with you," Ran said thoughtfully amidst the silence.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow, pausing a moment to ponder on her words. Now what exactly was she insinuating? "What's _wrong_ with me?" Shinichi repeated. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Ran didn't say anything for a moment, and she could feel his curiosity even through the phone. She smiled, feeling like she had some kind of power over him, for once. "You really want to know?" she asked, more seriously this time.

Shinichi smirked, not detecting the seriousness at all. "Oh yes, Doctor Mouri," he replied. "My bleeding heart is dying to know."

She rolled her eyes. The boy never could be serious about anything other than cases, for as long as she'd known him. Breathing a sigh, she took a seat down on her couch, staring at the white ceiling as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Her smile lit up the room. "_You_," she breathed sternly, "have a Rubik's complex."

A pause, as Shinichi thought.

"Come again?"

Ran sat up now, and began to fidget with her phone cord as she spoke. Her eyes narrowed, slightly aggravated that she was giving an explanation to Shinichi, while Shinichi had never explained a thing to her before disappearing. He didn't deserve it; but she gave it to him anyway. She never had learned how to say no to him.

"Some people," she began slowly, "have the Messiah complex. They _have_ to save people—save the world." She dropped the phone cord now, letting it fall to the ground. "But you—_you_ have the Rubik's complex. You _have_ to solve the puzzle."

Shinichi sighed, finally understanding where Ran was going with her diagnosis. It was where she was always going—she just took a different path. "I—"

"Drop the puzzle, Shinichi," Ran begged. "Come home…"

"You know I would if—"

"Someone else can solve it Shinichi!" Ran exclaimed. "Someone else knows the answer to your case! You're not the only brilliant detective in the world, Shinichi… please…someone else can handle it… I know it…"

Something about Ran's quivering voice always made Shinichi choke. He couldn't say anything, and he could barely move.

"It's other peoples' _jobs_ to do this kind of thing…you're still a student," she reminded him. "You have school, family, friends to come home to…you're in high school, Shinichi. You belong _here_…not out there! That's what real police and detectives are for, Shinichi, and maybe you can join them one day, but until then…until then…"

Shinichi frowned, shutting his eyes, waiting for a response to come to him. Ran could still hear his breathing, and he ran a hand down his sweaty face in frustration.

"Believe me," he murmured seriously. "There's nothing I want more right now than to come home to my normal life. But please also believe me when I say…I can't…not right now."

"Then _when_, Shinichi?" Ran demanded. "When?"

"I don't know…" he replied with a sigh. "I…I have to go."

"Wait! Shinichi, what's going on? Why can't you come home?" she asked. "Isn't there anything I can do to help? Shinichi?"

"Bye, Ran."

"Shinichi! I—"

Ran sunk right back into the couch as she heard him hang up; her face wet, and her eyes watery. The conversation hadn't gone exactly the way she planned; and now she still had no idea when she'd ever see him again. Never; tomorrow; five minutes from now. No clue, no lead to his mystery. But she had no time to ponder it. She had a life to lead, even if Shinichi wasn't in it at the moment.

"Conan! It's time for breakfast!" Ran yelled up to the boy in his room. She'd completely forgotten about cooking; but she figured cereal never hurt anyone. Her voice was still quivering when Conan made his way down the stairs.

"Morning, Ran-neechan," he smiled, trying to look happy despite the morning's events. "Something wrong?"

Ran smiled. Conan always found a way to make her feel better about anything. "No, Conan, don't worry," she laughed. "Nothing's wrong. Is cereal okay this morning?" She held up a box of Trix cereal, hoping it would suffice.

"Cereal sounds great," he replied.

Thankful, Ran grinned and quickly poured him a bowl. Since she had trouble picturing her father being happy with a cereal breakfast, she figured she'd better make him something else. After pouring Conan a glass of milk to go with his cereal, she put it down in front of him and briefly ran her hands through his hair.

"Well, I'll be right back. I guess I'd better wake up my dad, and I have to grab a few things from my room." Ran smiled at him, and Shinichi watched her as she made her way to the stairs.

Waiting in silence, Shinichi was just beginning to wonder where Ran was when heard his cell phone make a noise, from his pocket. A loud noise, and he nearly panicked, angry at himself that didn't turn it off. Ran, he knew, would definitely recognize his cell phone when she saw it—and definitely its ring tone. Looking around nervously, he saw that no one was around, and quickly checked the screen: fortunately, it was only a text message. He caught a brief glimpse of it before seeing Ran coming down the stairs, with her father close behind.

He quickly stuffed the phone in his pocket and ate as normal, his heart racing.

Ran conversed with her father as usual, him griping about the lack of a true breakfast, and he smiled at her, his heart beat still abnormally loud. "Ran-neechan?" he murmured.

"Hmm?" Ran replied, almost surprised.

"I love you," he grinned, his smile a mile wide.

Ran seemed shocked, in a good way. _Where did that come from?_ she had to wonder.

"Aww, thanks kiddo! I love you too!" She winked and pet him on the head, ruffling his already unruly morning hair. "May I ask what for?"

"Oh…breakfast," he mumbled with a smile.

She had to laugh at his answer. "I'll have to be lazy and give you cereal more often." Suddenly, she turned to her father with a stern face. "Why can't you be like Conan, hmm? At least _he_ appreciates what I do." She folded her arms and growled. "Wait here. I'll run to the store to get some eggs so I can make you your stupid breakfast."

"Hmmpth," was Kogoro's only reply. He went back to reading the newspaper, probably looking for any news on Yoko Okino's whereabouts.

And Shinichi pulled out his cell phone once more, smiling at his text message. He knew she must've sent it when she was upstairs, which was why she took so long.

_i'm waiting for you_

"Conan, what're you doing?" Kogoro suddenly asked, looking up from his newspaper.

He shut his cell phone quickly, putting it back in his pocket as if nothing had happened. "Nothing. I think I'll go upstairs now," he replied. He put his bowl and empty glass of milk in the sink before he left, and on his way up the stairs, his cell phone was right in his hands again.

_anticipation is very unbecoming of you – ill have to come back quickly : -)_

He laughed, pushing the button to send the message. And Ran must've taken the cell phone to the store with her, because he had a reply within about a minute. Short and sweet—sort of.

_jerk_

He only shook his head, shutting the cell phone and putting it back in its hiding spot.

"Love ya too, Ran," he grinned, laying on his bed. "Love ya too."

* * *

_**A/N:**__ OKAY. I have an excuse for disappearing! I REALLLY do. I promise. Uhhh. My dog ate my fanfics! Yeah that's it!_

… _ahem. Anyway, the whole Rubik's complex thing was completely stolen from House, M.D. If anyone caught that, kudos to you! House rocks! Woot. Hopefully it won't be another 4 months before I post another one of these. SORRYYYY I LOVE YOU ALL._

_Heart._


	24. Mirror

**Title:** Mirror  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme: **#35—I'm poisoned from the very moment  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Don't you believe in a little magic?

* * *

A late night in Beika was greeted with a burst of cold weather, courtesy of Mother Nature—and Kudo Shinichi, detective, had immersed himself in it. Yes, by choice.

It was what seemed like his umpteenth case working with the police department, and the young detective had politely refused Megure-keibu's offer of a ride home, preferring to walk. What else were feet for, anyway? He rather enjoyed the brisk weather, he had to admit, and enjoyed the peace and quiet that the night provided. It was rare he ever got to experience it.

Of course, he had other, more important reasons for refusing the generous ride, aside from his own pleasure. He had people that he wanted to see—or rather, a _person_—before he retired for the night.

And that person, he knew, would be there, in the Beika Karate Dojo, where he made a quick stop.

Shinichi calmly let himself in, and he saw no one there but her: Mouri Ran, who was due to compete as a finalist in the National Karate Championships that very next morning. She was hard at work even then, at eight-o'-clock in the evening, and seemed to be the only one left training. The sensei, he assumed, had either stepped out or gone home himself.

"Still practicing?" Shinichi murmured; a call which echoed through the room, louder than he had intended.

Ran turned around in a start, lightly panting and dripping sweat; she flashed a smile. She shouldn't have been surprised—the boy always managed to find her somehow.

"_You're_ a detective," she replied. "What's it look like?"

With a smirk, he walked towards her with a plastic bag in hand, which made loud rustling noises as he walked. He held it up almost as an offering, and, knowing that her question was rhetorical, didn't answer it.

"I just stopped by to give you some dinner in case you got hungry," Shinichi explained. "I figured you'd be here—and judging by your pale face and growling stomach, I'd say it'd be safe to assume that you haven't eaten yet."

Taking one last kick and 'Hya!' at the air, Ran finally stopped with a sigh of relief and approached him, taking the bag from his hands. "An accurate assumption as always, detective," she complimented him. "Thank you! I _am_ starving..."

She took a seat on the floor, motioning Shinichi to join her, and opened the bag, wiping sweat from her forehead as she did so. An italian sandwich was wrapped inside, in a plastic container, as well as a can of soda.

Shinichi smiled at the approval and reveled in the delight that came to her face as she took the first bite. You would've thought she'd never eaten food before, with how happy she seemed. He didn't want to bother her much longer though, so she figured as soon as she was finished, he would let her get back to her work. Not that she needed it, mind you.

"So," Ran spoke between bites, "I assume you solved that case you were telling me a bit about earlier?"

The detective smiled proudly. Having just come from the case, it was fresh in his mind—as was his pride in solving it. "Oh, of course. Came straight here afterwards, in fact. After picking up your dinner."

"The sister?" she inquired curiously at the culprit.

"No, actually. The wife."

"Oh!" Surprise lit her face. "Arsenic?"

"Cyanide. Still easy enough to detect."

Ran nodded understandingly, putting her sandwich down to take a sip of the soda. "I see."

Shinichi looked at her curiously with a suspicious smirk, raising an eyebrow. "For someone who never seems to care about mysteries and abhors my Holmes obsession, you sure seem interested this time," he noted.

She shrugged admittingly, stuffing the plastic (and now empty) container that previously contained the sandwich into the bag as trash. "Well, your obsession is nothing less than irritating," Ran grimmaced. "But, you help people. And I guess I can't really fault you for that."

The detective smiled in his meager victory, but decided to refrain from the gloating. Ran still being worked up and all from the training and the anticipation for the karate competition tomorrow, he knew this had to be the safest course of action. He distracted himself from the temptation with some other thoughts that he'd been entertaining in his head; of another, on-going case he had been puzzled with...

Ran stood then, taking her last gulp of the soda and adding the can to the trash, and placed the bag neatly on the floor. She stretched, deciding that she was glad for the break she just took—and for a moment, she looked up at Shinichi and her eyes seemed to linger. She stared, and he almost began to wonder whether or not something was on his face.

At last, she looked away, and began to work on her maneuvers once more, kicking and punching the air. There was a silence between them as Shinichi enjoyed the show, but he was suddenly taken aback when she turned around to face him, speaking: "You're still looking to catch him, aren't you?"

Startled, Shinichi blinked and seemed dumbfounded. "Who?"

"You know. Kaitou Kid," she replied without hesitation. She continued her exercises, performing the most impressive routines for which Shinichi knew not the names. "I saw you looking at some newspaper clippings about him earlier today. You're not exactly on the case, but it seems he's putting a blemish on your near-perfect record—being basically the only one able to avoid your capture. Must be aggravating."

"He's...a feisty one. A challenge," Shinichi replied, a little too quickly. "I like challenges."

Ran gave him a smirk, and decided maybe she ought not to press the issue further. But she never was good at listening to that little voice in her head.

"You two really are kind of similar, you know," she pointed out off-hand.

Shinichi again, looked at her with unprecedented surprise. He looked almost insulted. "Surely you don't mean Kid and I?"

And there Ran smiled. "What if I do?"

The detective's face turned pale, and it looked like he might've been poisoned right then and there. He soon composed himself, however, for a reply: "_This_ should be interesting. And how did you come to _that _conclusion, Miss Detective?" he inquired demandingly.

Patiently he waited for an answer, watching her throw yet more punches, and finally she landed one mere inches from his face. She was quite controlled, but he couldn't help but flinch—and Ran only grinned. She eased, standing in front of him now, taking another pause in her training.

"He _is _a thief," she admitted, explaining herself. "A skillful one, I'm sure even you would give him that. But more than that...he's a magician."

Shinichi hung on her last words, _a magician_. There was an air of dreaminess in the way she said it that he couldn't quite explain. He didn't like it one bit.

"Please don't tell me you're actually _impressed_ with his childish antics?" he asked, almost begging.

"Maybe, maybe not," Ran murmured calmly to keep him guessing. She could've sworn she heard a tinge of jealousy in his voice! "But the point is: he works magic. And it sure seems to me that you work quite a bit of magic in what you do, too. You're a magician in your own way."

Immediately Shinichi shook his head in denial. Her logic was clearly flawed.

"Magic?" he repeated. "No, no. I use logic and reasoning. Ingenuity. Creativity. There's no magic in that; there's nothing supernatural about being able to pin a criminal because he's careless and leaves me the clues. Impressive, sure I suppose...but not magical or impossible."

"Oh come now," Ran looked at him skeptically. "Don't you believe in a little magic?"

He was frank and honest. "No."

"I don't mean just witches and wizards, Harry Potter, wave-your-magic-wand type magic," she finally explained. "I mean...tell me, how does it feel when you solve a case, hm?" She gave a punch in his direction, making him step back, startled. "When a murderer is made to pay for his crime because of something _you_ did?"—_punch! jump, kick!_—"Or how about when you score the winning goal in a soccer game? Don't you feel any magic in that?"

Shinichi had a hand in front of him, blocking Ran's kick which, had he truly been her opponent, would have been aimed at his face. She was completely balanced, surprisingly, and took her foot down slowly, as Shinichi returned his hand to his side. She panted, sweating profusely, and wiping her face, she stood back straight again with a smile. He hadn't answered; he supposed there was a certain satisfaction in putting the criminals away. Oh, how it was sweet when he had found the flaw in a 'perfect' crime, and could tear it to bits! But he never thought of it as magic...

"See, Kid uses his magic for himself," Ran continued. "He uses it to deceive people so he can get what he wants, and maybe impress a couple people on the way. You..." She paused a moment, taking a look at him. "You use a slightly different kind of magic. It's like your fuel. Your motivation. And it makes you miraculously good at what you do."

Shinichi shook his head, feeling slightly dizzy. "Woah. Why do I get the feeling I've just been psychoanalyzed?"

She laughed, a little nervously, supposing it did seem that way.

"Sorry," she murmured. "I guess what I'm trying to say is...you and Kid may have a lot more in common than you think, or want to admit. Perhaps your strengths are his strengths...your weaknesses are his weaknesses...like a mirror. If you take that into consideration...then maybe, just maybe...well..."

A pause, as she studied him, noting his undying curiosity and attention. And finally, she finished:

"Well, you might just catch him."

Shinichi gave a light chuckle; if only it had been that simple. How much did he and Kid truly have in common anyhow? He barely knew a thing about Kid. Surely Ran couldn't be expected to know much more—but he certainly did appreciate her effort.

"Yeah, I just might," he agreed. "But I think I'd better be the one to worry about that one. You'd better just relax and kick some butt tomorrow. All right?"

"Oh, I will," Ran assured him.

"And when you win those championships, I'll take you to Tropical Land," he added as an extra incentive. "My treat, just the two of us."

"Oh, really?" She looked at him with an air of playful skepticism. "Let me get this in writing. I'll hold you to that you know."

"Ha, ha," Shinichi muttered sarcastically, yet with a stifled chuckle. "Funny one, aren't you?"

She grinned, as if to say 'Yes, and quite proud of it.' Truly though, she was quite happy with the idea: after all, an amusement park adventure with a friend sounded much better than and old trophy any way you looked at it!

"And don't you worry," the detective said assuringly with folded arms. "I _will_ catch Kid."

"Will you now?" she asked disbelievingly. _Arrogance coming from someone working off the record--not even officially on the case! Hate to imagine how he'd act if he _wasThe thoughts ran through Ran's head like a train.

"Yes."

And Ran nodded approvingly at his unwavering confidence. "Then I'll hold you to that as well."

Shinichi only stared at her, and, for a moment wondered what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Well it's about time I got something out! Happy New Years, Happy Holdays and all that! (smiles) _

_I hope you enjoyed. I'd become fascinated with the idea of Shinichi seemingly working "magic" to solve his more miraculous cases, and well...I just kind of ran with it. _

_In any case, hopefully another will be out soon. Booo, writer's block!_


	25. Safety Bubble

**Title: **Safety Bubble  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #28—I feel safe with you by my side  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** It was a gamble she'd always been willing to take.

* * *

Boredom was a curse. Mouri Ran was convinced of this.

She sat, suffering through her high-school Chemistry class—her last one of the day—with her ever favorite detective friend, Shinichi, sitting behind her. Absent-mindedly, she took notes, occasionally glancing at the clock at the front of the classroom, hoping it would tell her that it was time to leave. But that wouldn't happen for another twenty minutes or so.

And what a grueling twenty minutes it would be.

It started with the light tapping of his pencil. It was Ran's pencil actually, that Shinichi had needed to borrow, since he did not come prepared with one. You could tell it wasn't his by the girlish moon-and-stars design etched on it. He stared at the detail intensely as he continued to tap it against his desk, only half-listening to the teacher's lecture.

Yes, the great Detective of the East was definitely looking for something to pass the time.

_Tap, tap, tap... _

"Stop it," Ran would turn around and scold him. "You're distracting people."

Shinichi only smirked in reply, now swirling the pencil in his hand. But eventually, even that lost his interest. He began to tap with his fingers now, too, almost forming morse code. His feet rested on the back of Ran's desk in front of him, and they began to click against the metal, making a _clinking_ noise. It was like there was a song playing in his head. Turning around, she gave him a stare.

"Stop," she warned again.

_Clink clink clink. Tap tap. Clink clink clink..._

"Your red clown nose is showing, _Conan_," she murmured teasingly in a heated whisper, turning again.

Shinichi, a class clown? No way.

"_You're_ the one talking," he warned her quietly with a wide grin. "And just so you know, the Conan jokes stopped bothering me, and stopped being funny, a long time ago."

Ran turned around all the way now, attempting to grab at his pencil in anger to keep it away from him. The hell with notes, she knew everything anyway. He put up a fight, the devilish smile not faltering one bit. She was cute when she was angry.

"Miss Mouri, is there a problem?"

The karate girl's head seemed to whirl around immediately at the sound of her name, her dark brown hair sparkling as it fell. "No, sir," she replied to the teacher, blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Then I'll have to ask you to keep your eyes up here please," the man replied. "And pay attention."

She nodded and clentched her fists, cursing under her breath.

"Told you so," came Shinichi's whisper behind her. "Who's got the red nose now?"

Her whole face, in fact, was red with annoyance and embarrassment. It was times like this she wondered how she _ever_ felt safe by his side.

He could create a protective bubble around her to make her feel safe. He'd sacrifice the world for her to make that bubble, but he could also pop it in an instant. The safety laid in knowing that he never would; but the danger laid in knowing that he might. It was a gamble; sometimes dangerous, sometimes harmless.

But it was one she'd always taken since she'd met him.

And it really was a gamble: danger flocked to him, much like his cases did. One might've thought that he _asked_ for trouble. It was like picturing a crowd of fangirls herding around him, asking him for an autograph and making their confessions of love; telling him how awesome he was, feeding his ego. Just thinking about it was enough to make you sick. She supposed it was jealousy.

"Miss Mouri? Since you're so eagerly paying attention, perhaps you'd like to tell us about the properties of water that allow it to travel up to the leaves of plants."

The voice came sharp and sudden, and made Ran stammer. When did they start talking about water? She had no idea, and she had a feeling she was about to make a fool of herself again.

"Cohesion and adhesion," she suddenly found herself saying, with no hesitation. "Cohesion describes how water molecules stick to each other, through their positive and negative ends. Adhesion describes how water molecules stick to other substances—for example, the capillaries of the xylem. Water molecules 'climb' up the xylem and pull other water molecules up until they reach the leaves."

The brunette looked almost as shocked as she did when the teacher had first called on her. Seeming unsatisfied that he couldn't embarrass her—again—the teacher nodded and moved on for the last few minutes of lecture. She was saved...

Ran spun around to see Shinichi, smiling, and she thought he saw him wink right before she turned around again. She was still in surprise, but suddenly, when the bell rung to signal the day's end, she pieced it together. She smirked at him.

"I thought you gave your bowtie to Ayumi," she said softly as students began to shuffle out.

Shinichi returned the gesture. "Fortunately for you, I thought I might still have a use for it," he replied. "Seems I was right."

"Thank you. I never pegged you as a plant guy, to be honest."

The detective shook his head. "Nah, I'm not," he assured her. "But I know plenty about water and what it can do."

"I noticed."

"I tried to apologize," Shinichi added quickly, "for, you know...earlier...you didn't hear me though."

Ran only smiled, having already forgotten the class-clown business. The clinking and tapping, the anger.

"Apologize for what?"

* * *

_**A/N:**__ Uhm... in my head, I had gotten as far as 'It was times like this she wondered why she ever felt safe by his side.' Then my hands just kept typing..._

_(halo) Anyway, I thought it was cute :3 And it fit the theme. Till next time._


	26. Even Angels Fall

**Title:** Even Angels Fall  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #17—black wings; wings  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Falling, as it turned out, wasn't so bad.

* * *

It was the first time Shinichi had actually felt cold; a cold that burned. He'd been out in Japan's worst winter weather; but no, this was the worst of it. He gave a sigh, staring out of the window, wondering what exactly he was doing there. Silly question, of course: he was on a 'date.'

"Shinichi, it's an _ice rink_," Ran gently reminded him, as they stepped out of the car. "Would you stop looking at it like it's some sort of prison or something?"

"It might as well be," the detective grumbled.

"Oh, lighten up, would you? You need to learn to have fun—_fun that doesn't involve dead people_."

"Ow! And _you_ need to cut your nails—"

Ran violently grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the entrance of Beika's only ice-skating rink, excitement resonating on her face. Shinichi hesitated, but eventually was able to break free from his captor's vice grip, murmuring, "All right, all right, I can walk on my own." She let him walk ahead as she trailed behind him.

He was like an angel with wings; perfect, white wings he used to soar above her in nearly everything. But when it came to singing—ice-skating—his wings became darkened, in this case, with inexperience. They became black, heavy, and weakened, and made him sink below her. But it was all right; Ran assured him that she didn't care, and that this was just for the purposes of fun. It didn't matter that he didn't really know how to ice-skate; a lot of people didn't.

And so he gave in, and there they were, renting two pairs of figure skates of an ugly brown color, their blades probably dull from constant use. The two teens then retired to a corner near the lockers, and proceeded to try on their new footwear.

"If I fall, I'm taking you down with me," Shinichi warned her, tying up his second and last skate.

Ran was already standing, arms folded and waiting. She gave him a smirk as she helped him up and they waddled their way to the ice on their blades.

They stepped on graciously, and both stayed near the wall with the other inexperienced skaters. The skilled ones—as they could see—were in the middle, showing off their wide array of tricks. Most of them, Ran realized, had probably been skating all their lives.

The two skated hand in hand, so, if he actually were to fall, Shinichi could keep his word: he could pull Ran right down with him. But she wasn't afraid. If she had to fall anywhere, the ice would hurt far less than some other places she could think of.

Falling didn't seem to be an issue however. There were a couple scares: little boys, whizzing by on their bright blue hockey skates, and other new skaters not looking where they were going. But they had been able to keep off the icy cold ground; the ground that was etched with all sorts of intricate designs from the blades and toe-picks of skates. Loops and lines and curves scattered everywhere.

"See? You're not as bad as you thought!" Ran nudged lightly. "You've managed to keep from falling, at any rate."

Shinichi tensed a little at the nudge, but was still safe and on his feet. "A pathetic accomplishment—but yeah," he agreed.

"Too bad, though..."

His ears perked up almost like a cat's, revealing his piqued interest. "What?" the detective asked casually.

And Ran gave a subtle smile: a secretive smile that hid something. "But didn't you know, Shinichi?" she teased lightly. "Sometimes falling is the fun part."

"Somehow, I sincerely doubt it." Shinichi protested honestly. "And—we have, what, an hour and a half left? I think I can manage that without falling."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Ran nodded, taking this as a challenge. "All right then. It's a bet! Winner treats the loser to lunch."

"A bet? On whether or not I'll fall?" Shinichi asked, perplexed. He then grinned, with the same air of confidence he had when solving cases. "All right, it's a deal."

Not falling—it was a simple enough request. And it got him free lunch. Made things interesting—so why not? They continued to skate, for the moment putting the bet out of their minds. They laughed, teased each other, made fun of the bad music they played, and marveled at the people doing twists and turns in the center. One in particular was impressive—a certain redheaded foreigner, who was working with an instructor on a routine, probably for a performance.

Ran saw the way he looked at her, and couldn't help feeling just the least bit jealous, but she herself had to admit that the girl was skilled. She was able to repeat the same moves, on command, and undoubtedly would put on quite a show. They spins and jumps—they all began to look the same after a while however. And soon, the redhead and the instructor took their leave.

Time flew quickly, and Shinichi glanced at his watch with satisfaction.

"Well, they'll be kicking us off the ice any minute now," he told her. "Looks like you owe me lunch."

The two-hour session had flown by fast. Ran had let their agreement slip from her mind, but of course, it was slapped back into her head.

"So it seems, detective," she nodded. "But don't speak too soon..."

And just as the announcement came to evacuate the ice, a young hockey player had once again whizzed by them, in a rush to get to the door. Off-guard, thinking that he had just won their agreement, Shinichi had lost his balance. He attempted to use the wall to regain it, however more people began to shove by, bolting towards the exit and he soon found himself collapsed on the icy surface.

The angel had fallen...

His eyes were widened, and he muttered something under his breath to Ran, who was smiling widely. It took him a moment to smile in return.

Falling, as it turned out, wasn't so bad.

Ran eyed him teasingly, watching him helpless on the ground, falling with each attempt to rise.

"So, who owes _who_ lunch now?"

* * *

_**A/N:** This one was a little tough, had me stuck for a while...but finally, I figured it out. Hehe, I used to ice-skate with my friend Elle so I figured I'd write about it at least once._

_Till we meet again..._

_PS: Is anyone else having trouble logging onto Ff-net with the 503 error (or has had the problem before)...?_


	27. Breaking Point

**Title:** Breaking Point  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author: **Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #37—threads of fate  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** The only thing keeping the two together was a fragile thread...

* * *

"So you really didn't see him, did you?"

Mouri Ran sat staring out at the night sky through the living room's window, stuck in a dream-like trance. She turned briefly to her companion, little Conan, and gave him a stare that seemed to demand the truth. Her eyes were watery, and her face damp with sweat, which did little to wash the dirt away from her reddened cheeks. Conan did not answer her immediately, appearing to be wrapped in his own perturbed thoughts; Ran did not notice.

He had been so close! Damn it all, _she almost saw him. _Right on the other side of that wall he was, telling her eloquently and calmly how to disarm the bomb. The bomb that had almost killed the both of them, and many others, yelling instructions: cut this wire and that; be careful! And his voice was beautiful...to hear him speak was music enough to her ears. Funny, to go through an experience like that—disarming a bomb, only having instinct to guide her to the correct wire in the end—and only remember a voice...

_Red or blue?_

_Blue or red?_

Yes, his voice. Cut the red one, he had told her...it was her favorite color. But why should she have? Why cut the thread of fate that so tightly binded her to Shinichi? The idea was absurd.

She chose blue.

"No, I didn't see him," Conan finally broke into her thoughts. "I—" He hesitated a moment, letting a light sigh escape his mouth. "I'm glad you're okay, Ran-neechan."

Ran didn't react. She clutched the bag which contained Shinichi's birthday present—his red shirt—and stood motionless. She wanted to give it to him. It was still his birthday, and it wasn't too late. But where was he now?

Suddenly, she set the bag down and her eyes wandered over to a solitary rubber band that sat lonely on the window sill. She took it in her hands and began to fiddle with it, doing simplistic tricks and maneuvers, and in the end, she stuck her finger into its loop. She tugged at it with her other hand, watching hypnotized as the thread-like band expanded and contracted—out and in, rhythmically. The rubber band was red.

"The thread that binds us is strong, you know," Ran murmured, to no one in particular. "Shinichi and I, we're inseparable. But when the thread is stretched, there comes a certain point—a breaking point—" She stretched the rubber band with all of her might, as far as it would go. "—when the thread—snaps—"

Conan flinched as the rubber band darted back towards Ran's hand, grazing her finger as it passed. He couldn't tell if the rubber band had actually broken in two; but it didn't take a genius detective to understand the visual aid. He refrained from saying a word.

"So, I guess it's up to you, hm, Shinichi?" Ran taunted him. "How far are you willing to stretch this delicate thread that binds us..."

She trailed off lightly and Conan tried to smile, walking up to her with delicate steps.

"But even if this thread snaps," he murmured, taking her hand, "it still leaves a scar." He showed her a red mark that the rubber band had bestowed upon her when it had snapped back into its place, touching it gently. "Like a reminder of what was once there; so you will never forget him, and he will never forget you. And Ran-neechan, scars don't go away."

Ran did not reply at first, but he could see her lips curl slightly into a smile. He smiled too, his same goofy smile he'd always managed in the face of adversity.

"You're right, Conan," she replied. "You're always right. Just like him." She got up and made her way to the stairs, remembering how tired she was. "Thank you."

Conan decided to stay longer to enjoy the solitude, and watched as she made her ascent to her room. One day, he would go too far. He would stretch that delicate thread too far, and it would snap. It would snap, race back towards Ran, and he would follow it. He would follow it right back to where he belonged.

With her.

* * *

_**A/N:** Yeah, this idea's kind of been gnawing at me for a while now. Short, and kind of fluffy and sappy, but eh, DC is like that sometimes no? Hope you enjoyed it. Till next time._


	28. Letting Go

**Title:** Letting Go  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #1—you were never mine to begin with  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Ran prepares for a date.

* * *

"It looks great on you!" Sonoko exclaimed excitedly.

"You think so?" Ran blushed, twirling around, modeling in her new silky red dress she had come home with that day. Her cheeks had matched the dress perfectly. "I don't know, do you think maybe it's a little too fancy?"

Sonoko's short hair bobbed side-to-side as her head shook vehemently. "Come on girl, this is the New Beika Hotel we're talking about here!" she grinned. "It's perfect!"

The New Beika Hotel. It wasn't the first time Shinichi had invited her out there, but the last time hadn't exactly worked out, so he said he wanted a second try. Ran had actually suggested that perhaps they should go somewhere else, where the food was a bit less expensive—but the detective was rather persistent about the place. It made her curious, but she hadn't said anything.

"_I_ can't believe you're still going back to that place with him after he _ditched_ you last time," came a commanding voice from the hall. "He's _your_ boyfriend isn't he? Can't you keep a leash on him?"

Kogoro had walked into the room, making his presence known. His arms folded threateningly.

"Oh come on, dad," Ran pleaded. "Shinichi's not like that anymore. And he's not _my_ _any_thing; he hasn't belonged to _any_one for as long as I've known him."

"Yeah well, someone ought to put him in the pound then," her father murmured, discontent. "I don't like him."

She shook her head in disapproval.

"You're always saying things like that," Ran sighed. "Talking about Shinichi like he's some dog or something. You guys are a lot more alike than you think, you know."

Sonoko giggled, as she softly ran a comb through Ran's hair, watching it as the tangles straightened away. "Don't worry, Ran," she said. "I'm pretty sure he's just jealous that someone might be taking his precious daughter away."

"That's not it at all!" he replied defensively. "I just don't trust him, that's all. I mean, that little brat would leave you for _Sherlock Holmes_, if he could!"

Ran and Sonoko couldn't help but laugh at the mental images. Their favorite detective _did_ have quite the obsession over the character; really it wasn't hard to imagine at all. The picture practically painted itself!

"Well, it seems the Sleeping Kogoro has made another brilliant deduction," a voice chimed sarcastically. "Tell me, old man, how ever did you find out my top-secret plan of eloping with my favorite fictitious character?"

All heads turned to the doorway to see Shinichi, who was wearing an elegant blue tux, similar to the one he had worn the last time they had gone to the same restaurant. Kogoro's growl resonated through the room; Sonoko simply looked pleased that Shinichi knew how to dress for the occasion. Ran smiled widely at his sight, running up to him.

"Shinichi, hey!" she greeted with a wide grin. "You look great!"

"You're not looking so bad yourself, little lady," the detective returned the compliment, smirking. "You ready to go?"

"Sure am—been looking forward to it!"

"You won't be out _too_ late, will you?" Kogoro eyed them suspiciously.

Ran rolled her eyes, lightly nudging her dad on the shoulder. "Come on dad, we talked about this," she said exasperatedly. "I left dinner in the fridge, so all you have to do is heat it up. I won't be back too late, but just don't worry about me, okay? Goodness, you act like this is the first time I've gone out with Shinichi..."

"Yeah yeah," the old man sighed, thinking of his cold dinner. "Just get outta my sight, before I change my mind about this whole thing."

"Thanks dad, you're the best." Ran gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing her coat and left arm-in-arm with Shinichi. She had never looked so happy, and Kogoro supposed he had to be grateful for it.

He listened to broken bits of their conversation on their way out.

"So Shinichi—you wouldn't _really_ leave me for Holmes, would you?"

"Hmm. I dunno, Ran, Holmes has got a lot going for him...I mean with those deduction skills, and the violin, fencing, and who could forget—"

"_Shinichi!_"

"Ouch! What? I was just kidding!"

Sonoko sighed happily for them as they left, waiting patiently for her limo to arrive to take her home. It'd been a long day, shopping and getting Ran ready for the date. But now it was all done, and she had done her duty as a good friend. She turned to Kogoro now, who was also watching them as they ventured off, his eyes focused sharply on them. Mainly Ran.

She was right; it wasn't the first date she'd ever had with the brat. He had to wonder why his 'letting go' issues were coming up now. The man turned to Sonoko.

"You think she'll be all right?" he asked with a certain honesty in his voice.

And Sonoko just giggled, leaning back in the chair she sat on, completely care-free.

"She's not yours to worry about anymore, old man."

* * *

_**A/N:**_ _I don't really know how I came up with the idea of making Kogoro and Sonoko interact. I guess it turned out pretty well though. I think it worked. :3 Anyways, sorry bout the large gap between updates as usual._

_I'll finish these guys up one day._


	29. Silent Night

**Title:** Silent Night  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #39—hear the thunder roar and the lightning flash  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Shinichi makes a decision.

* * *

"Looks like it's raining again," Kudo Shinichi murmured to himself.

Walking home, Shinichi could hear the thunder that roared threateningly over Beika. The clouds that were once a pearly white darkened rapidly, as if possessed by evil. Raindrops fell to their doom, only to splat on the ground, and Shinichi was even sure he saw lightning from a far distance. But none of this was enough to scare him.

While most ran for the cover and comfort of the indoors, Shinichi seemed to embrace the weather that day. To him, it was like a chance to wash away the thoughts troubling his mind.

He found a small clearing where he and Ran used to run and chase fireflies together as children and smiled reminiscently. He could almost hear his own childish laughter.

Dr. Agasa was expecting him at home soon, but Shinichi was never famous for being punctual. He decided to stay and let the rain do its worst. Just as he was expecting the worst however, he was surprised. He could no longer feel the gentle pitter patter of the rain against his skin. Instead, he could hear it, ringing loud and clear above him. He looked up.

An umbrella hovered over him—not just anyone's, but Mouri Ran's.

"Tell me, detective, do you have something against umbrellas?" she asked with a grin, touching his shoulder.

Shinichi smiled back, his ocean blue eyes opened wide. He decided her question was a rhetorical one. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Ran replied. "What're you doing out here?"

Shinichi paused a moment before responding; and with a shake of his head and a shrug of his shoulders, he looked towards her. "Nothing, really."

"Shouldn't you be home?" Ran asked persistently, taking a seat beside him.

"I had some…y'know, stuff on my mind. Besides, haven't you ever wanted to…get away from home?" The detective looked at Ran expectantly, but did not receive much of an answer.

"Maybe…" she replied with uncertainty. But she wouldn't let him change the subject quite so easily. "What kind of stuff?"

"Just…stuff."

Though the storm had come not so long ago, the roar of thunder and the blinding flashes of lightning began to fade, leaving only rain in its tracks; it appeared the storm would not last long. This made things awkwardly silent; he knew Ran was expecting more of an answer from him. It was funny how roles had been reversed; it was normally him, finding her and bothering _her_ for answers.

"I've been thinking about leaving the soccer team," he finally blurted out, and put on a devil's smile to show the confidence behind his thoughts. And though the storm was beginning to pass, his words were as shocking as a sudden boom of thunder in the silence of night.

"What?" Ran's eyes widened in utter surprise. "But…you're one of the best! They need you!"

"I know, but soccer's just a game, Ran," Shinichi replied. "It was a game I used to hone my detective skills and…well, I don't need it anymore. And I'm much more useful when I'm helping the police with their cases."

"But, you love soccer…" she murmured. "Even when you were little—"

"And I love solving mysteries," he added swiftly, before she could go on. He sighed, knowing that she would not be the only one that he would disappoint. "I don't plan on quitting soccer…soccer will always be a little part of everything I do. But I can't let being on the _team_ distract me anymore. I'm a detective first, and I can't forget it."

Ran frowned, but admired him in being so firm. "It…it sounds like you've been thinking about this."

He nodded. His confidence was deserving of respect, but even in the firmness of his voice, Ran heard doubt. And in the shadow of doubt, it almost began to sound like Shinichi had been trying to convince _himself_ of his decision—not just her. But she wanted to be supportive.

"Well, fine. I trust whatever decision you make, Shinichi." Ran's smile warmed the air. "You do what you need to do. But you're going to have to explain it to your team mates…"

Shinichi forced a slight chuckle, and his lips curled into a half-smile. Though he tried not to let it show, he dreaded disappointing the team. "Let me worry about that."

There was a moment of silence as Ran examined him. She stared at him with critical eyes, blinking only once, and suddenly, she frowned. "You don't seem a hundred percent sure," she said, reading what little emotion he seemed to show. Of course, when was anyone ever a _hundred_ percent sure of their decision?

"Maybe not a hundred percent," he admitted nonchalantly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The detective looked at her with a smile, and there seemed to be an innocence that resonated from his face. "I think we just did, didn't we?"

"Oh." Ran nodded, a little embarrassed.

The evening again turned silent, and the pouring rain had slowed to a mere drizzle. The sun had poked out from behind the clouds again, and was now sitting low in the sky; a beautiful, glowing orb. The silence was a bit frustrating for Ran, and she wished she could get Shinichi to say more about what was on his mind. It occurred to her, too, that she was usually the one giving him answers to his questions.

She seemed to be an open book for him, but he was like a foreign book to her. Even having known him since childhood, she felt like there was so much more to know about him.

Desperate for conversation, Ran wanted to say _something._

"Do you want to watch the sun set?"

Redness rose to her cheeks slightly, but Shinichi didn't seem to notice it. A beautiful rainbow stretched across the sky—seemingly across the universe, as the rain died down. And with the same smile as before, Shinichi had replied without taking his eyes off the vast, orange sky.

"I think we already are."

* * *

_**A/N:**__ Woo, another one bites the dust! I don't know if anyone still reads my stories but if you are…well, thank you, and I hope you stick with me until the end. Only eleven more to go now! Haha…only…right._


	30. When Pigs Fly

**Title:** When Pigs Fly  
**Fandom:** Detective Conan  
**Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)  
**Theme:** #32—I hate to love, but for you I'm willing to  
**Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.  
**Summary:** Alternate universe. A detective who wouldn't know love if it bumped into him on the soccer field…

* * *

"Sonoko, _why_ do you keep stopping?"

A very piercing glare passed from Mouri Ran to Sonoko they ever so slowly walked past the soccer field of Teitan High, and stopped there for a third time. It was the end of a school day and all Ran wanted to do was go home to relax, maybe get out of the hot gi she was wearing from karate practice. But there was a lot of field area to pass—and Sonoko seemed determined to stay there, for reasons far beyond Ran's comprehension.

"Oh, come on, Ran—just look at those hotties on the soccer team!" she exclaimed, waving her hand wildly at them. Ran was too embarrassed to look and see if they were waving back. "Don't you just love the way they run? I love watching them practice after school! Oh, looks like they're now leaving though."

Ran sighed, putting a hand on her forehead in hopes that it might help her headache. "Good. Maybe we can too," she murmured, and violently grabbed on to her arm, attempting to pull her away.

"Oh wait! The captain's still there!" Sonoko was able to break free, since Ran had been lenient with her grip, and she narrowed her eyes a little, trying to focus them. "I think he's with a friend."

"The captain?" Ran repeated. She thought for a moment. "Oh, you mean that Kudo Shinichi guy?"

Sonoko gasped, looking at her through twinkled eyes. "You know him?" she asked dreamily.

"Er…well, not exactly," Ran murmured. "But everyone talks about him. He's some famous detective or something, isn't he?"

Suddenly, Sonoko snapped her fingers—the sign of an epiphany. "That's right! He's probably worked with your dad before!" And though the sudden realization seemed miraculous to Sonoko, Ran seemed unaffected.

"I guess so," she replied. "I've heard the name come up a couple of times. The guy's apparently a genius."

"A _dreamy_ genius," Sonoko added. "Would you look at him run…hey, I think he's looking at you!"

"Yes, he's very fast. He's great. He's wonderful," Ran threw whatever complimenting words she could think of out of her mouth. "Can we go now?"

"Aw, come on! Why don't you go introduce yourself or something?" Sonoko asked with a suggestive nudge.

"What?" Ran looked shocked. "Why would I go and do a thing like that?"

Sonoko sighed, looking at Ran as if she were a mother giving a lecture to her daughter. She put her hands on her shoulders, gripping them firmly, and it was evident that she didn't plan on letting go. "_Ra-an_, aren't you the one always talking about how you wish there was just one guy out there, just for you, whom you could love and who would love you back?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no, I'm pretty sure that's _you_, Sonoko."

Sonoko's head dropped as she let out another prolonged sigh, and Ran hoped that this was a sign of her giving up. "Oh, just bear with me here, would you?" she exclaimed. "You two would be great together! The captain of the soccer team? The karate champ of Teitan High? And besides, with your dad in the police force, I'm sure you guys would have all sorts of juicy mystery-crime stuff to talk about! This is the guy you've been waiting for!"

Ran shook her head violently, once again grabbing onto her arm in an attempt to pull her away. "Listen Sonoko, I'm _really_ not up for one of your match-maker games right now. If _you_ want to meet him and introduce _yourself_, just to get pushed away like any other fan girl, then be my guest, but you can do it on your own time. Right now, I really just want to go home—_before_ it gets dark."

"You're not going to get pushed away _that _easily!" she exclaimed in reply.

"And what makes you say that?" Ran asked critically. "He's practically a celebrity. He can probably get any girl he wants. Pigs would fly before he paid any mind to you or me."

"But, silly…have you forgotten?"

"Forgotten what?"

"Who you are—you're Mouri Ran!" Sonoko grinned. "You can beat people up!"

With that statement in mind, Ran was just about ready to beat _herself_ up, against a wall. But, mentally talking herself out of it, she took one long breath and grabbed onto Sonoko one last time, determined not to let go. "Okay, that's it. We're leaving now."

"He's heading this way!" Sonoko gasped, struggling to keep her eyes on the prize—Shinichi—as he slowly approached them.

"What?" Ran looked freaked as she promptly let go of Sonoko's arm, letting her get away a third time.

It was then that her eyes feasted upon a lonely bag, sitting to the side of the field; and she assumed that must be where the detective was headed. It must've been his, and he needed something from it. He didn't see them at all; he looked right past them. But this was no surprise to Ran.

"He's alone! Go on, Ran, now's your chance. Go say hi!" Sonoko whispered vehemently from behind her.

"I told you, I'm not doing it!" Ran whispered back with just as much force. But it wasn't enough force to hold back her push.

"Sonoko, what are you—"

Although she looked like no more than a stick figure of a school girl, she caught Ran off-guard and she was evidently much stronger than she looked. A push was all she needed, and before Ran knew it, she had collided with Shinichi as he walked past. Sonoko then stepped back, smiling innocently at the two of them as she waved. "Catch you later, Ran!"

The impact was just barely enough to throw Ran off balance, but Shinichi, being the knight in shining armor that he was, had been in the right place to catch her before she collided with the ground. Her eyes fell upon his soccer uniform as she sighed, wondering how she became friends with a boy-crazy maniac like Sonoko. Although she supposed it wasn't terrible…he was strangely comfortable, and the way he smelled reminded her of her father…

"Are you all right?"

His voice surprised her immensely and a strange jolt pulsed through her body, repelling her from his. She nodded, idly brushing imaginary dirt off her gi.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Ran murmured, red flooding to her cheeks. She mumbled inaudibly: "_Though, Sonoko's a different story_." One of these days, she swore, she was going to strangle her. "Sorry about my friend. She's a little…well, you know…anyway, I'm…er, I'm Mouri Ran…"

"That's okay," Shinichi replied, a little more composed. He tried to smile a little, hoping it would scare away the nervousness that was taking over her at the moment. "Nice to meet you."

"You're…uh, Kudo Shinichi right?" she asked casually. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Uh oh." The detective made a worried face, but she couldn't tell if he was actually being serious. "Good things, I hope."

A light chuckle escaped Ran's lips; a shaky laugh, but it was a sign that she was beginning to feel a little more comfortable. "Captain of the Teitan High soccer team, world-famous detective of unprecedented skill, and son of the famous author Kudo Yuusaku?"

Shinichi smiled proudly. "Guilty, on all three counts, I must confess." He jokingly raised his hands up in surrender, and then stared at her, looking at her studiously with critical eyes. "But you, Mouri Ran…you've got quite a record too. Karate champion, daughter of police officer Mouri Kogoro?"

Ran nodded sheepishly. "What can I say? The devil made me do it." She grinned and gave an innocent shrug of her shoulders.

"He does do that sometimes, doesn't he?" the detective said in between laughter, winking. He paused, looked around once, and ran a hand across his forehead casually as he turned his attention back to her. "You know, there's actually a rumor going around the police force. They say your dad wants to step down and start his own private detective agency. You know anything about that?"

She blinked, dumbfounded for a few moments as he processed his words.

"Oh. Yeah, we were actually talking about it as a family, just the other day, but…well, it's not really set in stone yet."

A frown painted her lips; Ran seemed a bit startled that the information was so public. She had just talked to her father and mother about it a few days prior—a mature family discussion that seemed private on so many levels, at least for the duration of it. She told very few people. Now Kudo Shinichi, a borderline celebrity who was not even technically a part of the police force, knew about it. Word travelled fast, she supposed.

"Ah. Well…" Shinichi shrugged, acting very nonchalant. "A rumor is just that, I suppose, until something becomes of it." He could tell that him knowing made Ran uncomfortable; her face told him everything, from the arch in her eyebrows to the shine of her eyes to the curve in her frown. He certainly did not need to be told to change the subject. "You know, I was actually thinking of getting some ice cream. It's really hot today, and I'm just _dying_ for some. We could go get some together, if you like. It must get pretty hot under that gi."

"Oh—er, sure, I love ice cream," she replied casually, without so much as a second thought. It almost scared her how fast she replied, but a part of her liked being decisive—it made things quick, and not to mention a great deal simpler.

"Cool!" Shinichi's lips curled into a devilish smile. "You can tell me all about some other things the devil has made you do." The detective could hear her laugh as his eyes darted around the field. They seemed to be looking for something; and a few moments later, it seemed, he found him.

Ran could see him near the goal post; dark skin, with emerald green eyes that shone out against it. A mysterious figure with a build like Shinichi's, and he even handled a soccer ball like him. Hattori Heiji was a detective from the West, and much like Shinichi, he was wise for his age. It was only natural that they would be friends. She saw them together that day, just before she bumped into Shinichi.

"Hey, Hattori! Toss me a towel, would you?" Shinichi held his hands open as he shouted the demand to his friend.

He gave Shinichi a smirk, at first seeming reluctant. But in the end, he tossed him a blue towel that went with his soccer uniform. He used it to wipe off the sweat that had accumulated on his face from being in the hot sun. "You still up for some one-on-one, Kudo?" Heiji asked expectantly, his foot resting on a soccer ball.

"Oh, I'm always ready to beat _you_, Hattori," Shinichi replied cockily, with a grin.

"We'll see about that! I'll see you on the field then?"

"Better believe it."

He turned around confidently, his head held high, and returned to the goal post to do exercises with the soccer ball as he waited.

Shinichi then turned to Ran with a frown. "Sorry. I guess I'll have to take a rain check on that ice-cream," he said with regret in his voice. "I forgot, I promised Hattori I'd play one-on-one with him, and I don't get to see him too often."

"Oh, that's fine." Ran smiled, but she had to admit, she was disappointed. "We go to the same school anyways, right? We can go any time."

"Right, right." Shinichi grinned. "And you're certainly welcome to watch me trounce him, if you like." He tossed the towel he was using to the ground. "Either way though, I'd better get to him. He gets impatient, you know."

Ran laughed. "Go do your thing, detective," she told him encouragingly.

He waved at her, saying one last 'good-bye' before running towards Hattori Heiji. She watched them for a short while, and noticed them talking as they played. She wondered what they could've been talking about in the heat of the game; running side by side, neck and neck with nothing between them but a measly soccer ball.

She knew what it was like, being face-to-face like that with an opponent. It was like no one else existed in the entire world. She wondered if it was like that for them too; if it was just them, that soccer ball, and those goals at that moment. But before she let herself wonder any more, she walked away, and decided to leave her speculations for another day. She knew she would see him again…

On the field, the two detectives were left alone as the sun began to set. Shinichi was victorious in their match, as predicted by him, though Hattori had made him work for it. They prepared to leave, as the sky turned a bright orange—a sign that the sun would soon be completely set.

"So Kudo," Heiji nudged Shinichi teasingly. "Who was your lady friend, hm? I thought you hated love, that it was only a distraction from the important things in life. What's she about?"

Shinichi only laughed. "Oh Hattori—you've got it all wrong, as usual. She's no love interest of mine," he replied. "She's like any other girl who likes to hang around me."

"Psh—inviting her to ice-cream? And not to mention, you two talk like you've known each other forever," he replied bitterly. His arms folded, and if Shinichi hadn't known any better, he would've thought he was jealous. One thing Heiji knew for sure though: Shinichi did not treat Ran like he did 'any other girl'…

"Not at all. We only met today, and you saw it happen. But she…" Shinichi began and promptly trailed off, and in looking for the right words to describe what he was trying to say, he got lost in his own thoughts. He looked to the sky then, and couldn't help but wonder what she was doing at that moment. Mouri Ran…

"But she…what?" Heiji asked with a burning curiosity.

Shinichi looked at him and smirked. "She's _very_ interesting…"

* * *

_**A/N:**__ Well, I think that was my longest Nights yet—2,387 words or somewhere thereabouts. It was just something different I was dying to try. And writing boy-crazy Sonoko is always fun. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Ten more to go! Woo! _


	31. Flipping a Coin

**Title:** Flipping a Coin**  
Fandom:** Detective Conan**  
Author:** Amm (SoulSeeker)**  
Theme:** #19—crying all night for you**  
Pairing:** Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran**  
Rating:** PG**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Detective Conan—I just play 'Barbie' with them, because god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.**  
Summary:** He could either have one or the other. It was that simple.

* * *

"You know, I've got to admit...I'm kind of surprised you called me."

It was the middle of the night, and both Shinichi and Ran should've been long asleep. And yet there they were, sitting together on the steps of the Mouri Detective Agency. Both in pajamas, and both awkward and silent, in an attempt not to wake anyone. Ran was actually glad tonight that her father slept like a log; after what they had found out about Shinichi, she knew he didn't want to see him again. And he would've never approved of this.

"I just...I don't know," she murmured. "I don't even know if I should be doing this. There were so many questions on my mind, and I couldn't sleep. I needed to talk to you."

"Yeah, I...I understand. I couldn't really either."

Shinichi felt uneasy, sitting next to her. He had never felt that way around her before, and it bothered him to no end. Why? Why did the men in black have to do that to him, and why did she have to find out about it? He wondered...he wondered, if they knew he was alive now, after all this time. If they would come after him to finish the job. He had only been back for about a day, and had kept a low profile—but he had let his guard down before. No doubt he might do it again.

"So...where do you want to start?" Shinichi asked, eager for conversation. He knew there was a lot to talk about, and sat down to make himself comfortable.

"You were Conan," she stated disbelievingly. "The entire time..."

"Yeah..."

"And you didn't tell me." Shinichi thought he could see tears trailing down her cheeks. "You let me go on believing this lie—that you were off on some case, and couldn't come back. Am I right?"

"Ran, I _wanted_ to tell y—"

"Just answer the question, Shinichi. Tell me the truth for once, please!"

He sighed, wishing he had a bag to pull over his head right about now. His hand would have to suffice he supposed; he covered his face with it.

"Yes."

Oddly enough, his answer almost seemed to make her feel better. He heard her sigh, and he could swear she was relieved. At least for a little while...

"How many people knew?"

Shinichi hesitated a moment before answering. He felt like he had just walked into a trap—whether he answered or not, she would still be upset. As a person who sought for the "one truth," however, he wouldn't feel right lying. Not now. Not anymore.

"Dr. Agasa," he murmured. "He was the first person I told, and...my parents. They figured it out later... and since my mom was an actress, it was easy for her to play Conan's mom." He paused, taking a moment to choose his words.. "...and Hattori. He figured it out, too. I...I didn't actually tell him."

Ran shook her head, sighing as her feet began to shuffle uncomfortably. She should've been one of those people. She knew it, and he knew it. If he had only told her, she could've helped; she could've worked with Dr. Agasa...she could've done _some_thing.

"Yeah. Well," she began, as she looked up at him, "you didn't actually go out of your way to deceive _them_, did you?"

Shinichi looked confused. "W-what do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, Shinichi," she snapped coldly. "You know very well that I suspected it was you, plenty of times. You could've told me. But instead, you tricked me. Making sure I saw Conan and you, at the same time...how did you do it, anyway?"

Ran had actually come close to figuring it out so many times; Shinichi almost wasn't sure what she was talking about. She didn't give him long to ponder, however.

"The play, Shinichi! After the play!" she specified. "Conan got sick when I was supposed to perform in that school play with Araide-sensei. You came back out of nowhere, took his place, and then magically solved a murder. Conan was wearing that mask...who was behind it?"

The school play. Of course—that wasn't something either of them would forget any time soon. They had come so close after all. Their faces were almost touching; he could feel her breath on his face, and if there hadn't been a scream, right at that moment...

"That...that was Haibara," he muttered, interrupting his own thoughts. "She disguised herself to help me that time..."

"So she knew, too."

Shinichi wasn't sure how many details he should really disclose about Haibara. Without knowing that _she_ was the one who developed both the Apoptoxin-4869 and its antidote, Ran might wonder how he finally got the cure—and why it took so long. He had a feeling that Ran knowing who she really was would just make the situation worse; and the situation was bad enough already.

In fact, thusfar, the only thing the conversation was doing was making both parties feel worse. Even Ran, who honestly believed she would benefit from getting answers from Shinichi. Perhaps she should've never called him. Maybe there were just some answers she didn't need to know; but if she never knew, then there would never be any closure. They would be avoiding the problem, and they'd never be able to put this behind them. She needed to know. She _deserved_ to know!

"And those men in black..." She continued with her assault of questions. "They're still out there looking for you?"

Shinichi nodded slowly, though it was so dark, he wasn't sure she could see it.

"If...if they find out I'm still alive, they'll be looking for me, yeah. That's why I'm trying to be careful right now. That's why I didn't...I didn't want to tell you. Now that you know, if they find me, they'll...they might..."

His voice trailed off. He didn't even want to think of what they may or may not do to her, or any of the other people he cared about, if they found him. He was actually more worried about repairing his relationship with Ran at the moment, and he hated making excuses. He hated making them because she hated hearing them—even if they were good ones.

"So. What do we do now?" she asked demandingly. "You're not safe. Hell, _I'm_ not safe. I feel like I'm harboring a fugitive or something."

Looking frantic, she stood up and began to pace, like one of those family members waiting outside an Emergency Room. Suddenly, a surprised, worried look came to her face and she stopped, turning to him very sternly.

"What about the Detective Boys? Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko? Do they know? Are they—"

"They don't know anything," Shinichi cut her off quickly. "As far as they know, Conan went back to live with is mother and is going to a different school."

"Is that what you told them?" Ran asked. "Is that what you told Ayumi? Did you tell her you'd be back, too?"

"Er, no, I don't think—"

"You can't do that, you know. It's not fair to her."

"I know. I didn't—"

"You can't do the same thing to her as you did to me. You can't tell her you'll be back. She'll a little kid. She'll wait for you. Expect you to call; wait up for you all night, and cry all night when you don't. If you do that to her, I'll—"

"I know, Ran!" Shinichi raised his voice. He put his hands on her shoulder, thinking it might help focus her attention. "I know. Don't...don't worry. She thinks Conan is going out of the country...he won't be able to call."

Ran's breathing was heavy now. She was sweating profusely and her voice was shaky, like she was about to break down any moment. She finally calmed down from her little outburst though, long enough to ask him another question.

"How...how did you decide, anyway?"

"Decide what?"

"To...to take the cure. To come back." Ran grabbed his hands and moved them off her shoulder. "As Conan, school was simple. People love children, so it's easier to get what you want. You seemed like a prodigy, since you still had the brain of a brilliant seventeen-year-old detective. It seems like being younger is what everyone would want. Why would you...why would you ever want to come back?"

Shinichi could barely believe she was asking such a question. Him, leave everything behind and start over?

"I...I wanted my body back, Ran," he replied. "I wanted my life back. Simple as that."

"Simple?" Ran repeated. "_Simple?_ A decision like that isn't like flipping a coin, Shinichi! You're telling me you didn't have _any_ second thoughts about coming back? Even knowing what would happen? Your life being in danger, and me, reacting like this?"

Shinichi smiled a bit, looking down to his feet—reminiscing about his days as Conan. The adventures the Detective Boys had. All the things he could get away with, as a little kid, and all the things he could do, without being laughed at. Being even more of an ace at soccer than he already was.

"I thought about it," he admitted. "About what it would be like, growing up as Conan. How nice it might be, not having to worry about the men in black. And then, I thought about my real life. As a detective, chasing down criminals. Going to high school. I knew, I could only have one or the other..."

He pulled out a coin from his pocket and began to bounce it up and down in his hand—the same way he might treat a soccer ball with his feet. He placed it on his thumb...

"And I picked one. Now I'm here, sitting next to you. As Shinichi. My true self."

Ran could hear the coin as Shinichi flipped it; it shined briefly in the moonlight before landing with a metal clang on the sidewalk in front of him.

"It wasn't easy, I guess. But it _was_ that simple."

Ran reached down to where it looked like the coin had fallen, feeling around until she found it. A silver coin, she noticed, as it sat resting on her hand. It had one side that could be called the 'head'--and the other, 'tails,' just like any other. A completely normal coin, and very real. Very plain and simple. Before she realized it, she placed it on her thumb, just as Shinichi had done, and flipped it in the same way. It seemed to twinkle in the night air.

_What should we do now?_ she asked mentally, as she caught the coin in her hand. _Those men in black...Shinichi...how can we stay safe?_

Simple.

If only life could be that way...

* * *

_**A/N:** Wow, it's been a long time hasn't it?!_

_To be honest, I don't actually know if Japanese coins have a head or tails. And I realize Shinichi would never consider staying as Conan. But oh well. I liked the idea, and it was angsty enough for the theme._

_Anyway, apologies for the long wait. As always, thanks for reading. Tata!_


End file.
